hindi is the official language in india with the largest number of speakers. it is the official language of the union. native speakers of hindi represent about 41% of the indian population (2001 indian census). english is also used, mostly for business and in administration. it has the status of a 'subsidiary official language'. the constitution also recognises 21 other languages. either many people speak those languages, or they have been recognized to be very important for indian culture. the number of dialects in india is as high as 1,652.