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The BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan says the explosions happened in the middle of rush hour
Three near-simultaneous explosions have shaken India's commercial capital Mumbai (Bombay), police say.
Seventeen people were killed and 81 injured, said Maharashtra state's chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.He called the explosions, during Mumbai's busy evening rush-hour, "a co-ordinated attack by terrorists".
One explosion was reported in the Zaveri Bazaar, another in the Opera House business district and a third in Dadar district in the city centre.
Police sources were reported as saying the explosions were caused by home-made bombs.
The attacks are the worst in Mumbai since November 2008 when 10 gunmen launched a three-day co-ordinated raid in which 166 people were killed.
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Zaveri Bazaar is a bustling market area famous for its jewellers. It has been targeted before: during the serial blasts in the city in 1993, 17 people were killed and 57 injured when a scooter packed with explosives blew up there.
Opera House, next door, is also a bustling business district teeming with traders. And Dadar, in the heart of the city, has one of the most crowded railway stations on Mumbai's busy suburban train network.
The choice of locations makes it clear that the blasts were intended to cause maximum casualties. But early footage of one of the blast sites - a ripped-off cover of a bus shelter and a car with its glass shattered - points to a medium-level and possibly crude explosion.
So far, there is no evidence to suggest that Mumbai is under attack the way it was in November 2008. And this could easily be the handiwork of a local group.
Analysis
The three explosions in Mumbai have taken place in some of the most crowded neighbourhoods in the city.Zaveri Bazaar is a bustling market area famous for its jewellers. It has been targeted before: during the serial blasts in the city in 1993, 17 people were killed and 57 injured when a scooter packed with explosives blew up there.
Opera House, next door, is also a bustling business district teeming with traders. And Dadar, in the heart of the city, has one of the most crowded railway stations on Mumbai's busy suburban train network.
The choice of locations makes it clear that the blasts were intended to cause maximum casualties. But early footage of one of the blast sites - a ripped-off cover of a bus shelter and a car with its glass shattered - points to a medium-level and possibly crude explosion.
So far, there is no evidence to suggest that Mumbai is under attack the way it was in November 2008. And this could easily be the handiwork of a local group.
The BBC's Soutik Biswas, in Delhi, says there is no evidence so far to suggest that Mumbai is under attack in the same way.
High alertThe latest explosions hit the city around 1900 (1330 GMT) as workers were making their way home.
Mumbai has been put on a state of high alert and a commando team is standing by, said Home Minister P Chidambaram.
Delhi, the capital, Calcutta and several other cities have also been put on alert. Mr Chidambaram urged people across the country to stay calm.
Forensics teams have been sent from Delhi and Hyderabad to examine the explosion sites.
The authorities have not yet said who they believe might be behind the explosions and no group has said it carried them out.
The blast in Zaveri Bazaar, a famous jewellery market in the south of Mumbai, was reported to have gone off in a shop, says the BBC's Rajini Vaidyanathan in Mumbai.
One witness, photographer Rutavi Mehta, told the BBC he was shopping nearby and heard the explosion. He grabbed his camera and ran to the scene.
"I took a couple of photographs. I think they might be too graphic for broadcast," he told the BBC.
"Bodies and limbs were strewn everywhere. People were crying and screaming. The area was packed with shoppers at the time of the blast. A few offered assistance to the blood-soaked victims, while others looked on in a state of shock," he said.
"It was totally chaos. There were pools of blood everywhere."
Another explosion hit the nearby Opera House district, at a time when it would have been crowded with workers and commuters.
The third blast in Dadar district, in the city centre, went off in a taxi next to a bus stop, reports say.
One eyewitness from the scene there told our correspondent he saw the bus stop and a car torn apart by the explosion.
According to some reports, the blasts came on the birthday of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, the sole surviving gunman from the 2008 attacks.
But BBC correspondents say court records show his birthday to be in September.
Pakistan was quick to condemn the latest explosions, in a statement issued by the foreign ministry.
Peace talks between Pakistan and India have only recently resumed since they were broken off after the 2008 attacks.
Mumbai has been targeted many times in recent years.
As well as the 2008 attacks, co-ordinated blasts on seven of the city's trains on 11 July 2006 caused massive loss of life. More than 180 people were killed and hundreds wounded in those bombings, which were blamed on Islamist militants.
The city suffered four bomb attacks during 2003, including twin blasts on 25 August 2003 which killed 52 people.
In 1993, 257 people were killed and 700 injured in a series of 12 bomb blasts across the city. The attacks were allegedly ordered by the Muslim-dominated underworld in retaliation for Hindu-Muslim riots.
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