Yes, Indians have melanin. Every living human does, regardless of ethnicity or skin tone. Melanin is a pigment produced by specialized skin cells called melanocytes, and every person has roughly the same number of these cells. What differs from person to person, and from population to population, is how much melanin those cells produce, what type they make, and how that pigment gets distributed across the skin.
Why Every Human Has Melanin
Melanin is not something only certain groups possess. It is a universal feature of human skin. The density of melanocyte cells stays constant across all skin types. What creates the visible range of skin tones, from very light to very dark, is the amount and ratio of two forms of melanin: eumelanin, a brown-black pigment, and pheomelanin, a yellow-red pigment. People with darker skin produce more eumelanin. People with lighter skin tend to produce relatively more pheomelanin and less eumelanin overall. But both types are present to some degree in virtually everyone.
Melanin’s primary job is protection. It acts as a natural shield against ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Eumelanin is especially effective, absorbing more than 99.9% of UV and visible light, limiting how deeply radiation penetrates the skin and reducing DNA damage. This is why people with higher eumelanin levels experience significantly lower rates of sun-related skin damage and skin cancer.
The Wide Range of Indian Skin Tones
India is one of the most genetically diverse countries on earth, and that diversity is visible in skin color. Indian skin tones span a broad range, roughly covering Fitzpatrick skin types III through VI (moderate brown to very dark brown). Researchers have even proposed modifications to the standard Fitzpatrick scale to better capture the specific variation found across the Indian population, since the original system was designed primarily around European skin types.
This variation is not random. A University of Cambridge study found that a key gene variant called SLC24A5, which plays a major role in lighter skin pigmentation, appears at an average frequency of about 53% across Indian populations. But that average masks enormous regional and cultural differences. The variant is far more common in Indo-European speaking groups concentrated in northwestern India and much less common in Dravidian-language populations in the south. Interestingly, the gene also shows up at high frequency in groups that migrated from north to south, like the Saurashtrians, who originated in Gujarat but now live primarily in southern Tamil Nadu.
The researchers concluded that natural selection alone doesn’t explain Indian skin tone variation. Centuries of endogamy (marrying within specific community or caste groups) created what they describe as a “mosaic pattern” of skin pigmentation genetics. Neighboring communities can have very different frequencies of this gene variant because of distinct social practices and ancestral migration histories rather than differences in sun exposure.
How Melanin Affects Health in India
Higher melanin levels offer real, measurable protection against skin cancer. India’s melanoma incidence is strikingly low compared to countries with predominantly lighter-skinned populations. In 2022, India recorded roughly 3,689 new melanoma cases across a population of over 1.4 billion people, a rate of about 0.26 per 100,000. For comparison, countries like Australia report melanoma rates more than 100 times higher. This gap is largely attributable to the protective effect of melanin in Indian skin.
That protection comes with a trade-off, though. Melanin slows the skin’s ability to produce vitamin D from sunlight. The darker your skin, the more sun exposure you need to generate the same amount of vitamin D as someone with lighter skin. This contributes to a surprisingly high rate of vitamin D deficiency across India. A meta-analysis of 39 Indian studies covering nearly 39,000 participants found that 67% of Indian adults were vitamin D deficient. Factors beyond skin color play a role too, including clothing that covers most of the body, indoor lifestyles, and air pollution that filters UV light, but melanin concentration is a meaningful contributor.
Sun Protection Still Matters
A common misconception is that darker skin doesn’t need sun protection. While higher melanin levels do reduce the risk of sunburn and UV-related DNA damage, they don’t eliminate it entirely. Indian dermatologists generally recommend SPF 30 to 50 for daily activities like commuting or working near windows. For extended outdoor time, sports, or travel to high-UV areas, SPF 50 or higher is the standard recommendation. SPF 30 blocks about 97% of UVB rays, which is sufficient for most routine exposure.
The bigger concern for Indian skin is often hyperpigmentation rather than sunburn. UV exposure can trigger uneven melanin production, leading to dark spots, melasma, and uneven skin tone. These conditions are more visible and more common in medium-to-dark skin tones precisely because melanocytes are already highly active and respond aggressively to UV stimulation. Consistent sunscreen use helps prevent these pigmentation changes as much as it prevents deeper skin damage.