An Indian military aircraft was missing after taking off in the country's northeastern region with 13 people on board today.

The AN-32 aircraft lost contact with radar at 1pm local time (3.30pm in Malaysia), about half an hour after it took off from Jorhat in the state of Assam, Indian media reported.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted in the afternoon that the plane was missing for some hours.

"I pray for the safety of all passengers on board," he said.

The Indian Air Force extensively uses the Russian-origin military transport plane.

An AN-32 aircraft with 29 people on board was lost in 2016 over the Bay of Bengal on a flight from Chennai to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

- Bernama