New Delhi turned down initial offers of aid from Washington and other foreign governments.

Indeed, despite its own huge problems, it sent cash and troops to help the relief operations in tsunami-battered neighbouring countries.

But the government did permit foreign and international aid agencies to take part in India's relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.

Indian non-governmental organisations also received millions of US dollars in funding for their programmes from foreign and multinational corporations and charitable foundations.

In addition to nearly 11,000 deaths in mainland India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, another 6,000 people are missing. More than 648,000 people were evacuated from their homes, and 110,000 of them remain in relief camps.

About 64,000 boats were damaged and 10,000 cattle lost, causing hundreds of thousands of people to lose their livelihoods.

An assessment by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations which was released last month indicated that India would require about US$1.2 billion for reconstruction work in the tsunami-hit states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

With the immediate relief phase behind it and most of the displaced people settled in temporary lodgings, India is now faced with the task of building new and better homes for the tsunami-affected communities.

It is also taking the opportunity to update the infrastructure in the area, according to J. Radhakrishnan, an Indian Administrative Services officer working in Tamil Nadu.

'The relief stage is over and the priorities now are livelihood restoration, reconstruction of homes and civic infrastructure, and the psycho-social and public health and education aspects of this,' Dr Radhakrishnan said.

Work on the permanent shelters is yet to begin as the government is still surveying the communities' needs, drafting design guidelines and identifying sites for the new homes.

G. Padmanabhan, a UNDP analyst, said the immediate challenge was for the government to issue the guidelines and a policy on resettlement.

Sticky issues such as land rights also had to be resolved.

'The new homes will have to be cyclone-resistant and, in areas prone to earthquakes, earthquake-resistant too,' he said.

'There is also the issue of whether homes should be built 500 metres from the shore and, in my opinion, the level of elevation they should be given.'

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 1,200 km from the Indian mainland, have their own specific problems in terms of the logistics of rebuilding.

But the government has decided to delay the full-scale reconstruction work until a carefully crafted blueprint has been put in place.

'We want to use this as an opportunity to build a new Andamans,' said General Aditya Singh, the Indian military commander charged with the reconstruction of the archipelago.

To draw up the master plan, an army of specialists is being flown in over the next two months to conduct a full assessment of the needs of the 400,000 people who live on just 38 of the 572 islands in the chain.

The visit of the experts, who cover everything from town planning to animal husbandry, will coincide with the monsoon season.

'I want the experts to experience the worst season in this part of the world,' said General Aditya Singh.

'They will then be alive to the requirements of a worst-case scenario.'

The clash of tectonic plates has forever altered the geography of the islands, which have risen by about 1.5 metres to the north and west, and sunk by an equal measure to the south and east.

The archipelago, just 160 km northwest of the epicentre of the December 26 earthquake, has also shifted closer to Indonesia by about 12 cm.

The rebuilding job is huge: more than a tenth of the population is homeless, while the infrastructure is in a shambles.

The immediate focus of the administration, though, is to build over 2,000 rainproof 'intermediate homes' for the homeless before the onset of the monsoon later this month.

New Delhi has already pledged over 38 billion rupees ($6.3 billion) for the long-term reconstruction of the archipelago.

'We want to involve NGOs, the private sector and experts from various fields in the reconstruction effort,' said Syeda Hameed, a member of the national Planning Commission. 'It has to be a joint effort.'