MUMBAI - INDIA'S first regional unit for specialist anti-terror troops has opened in Mumbai, fulfilling a government pledge after criticisms of the military's slow response to last year's attacks on the city.

The hub for some 250 National Security Guard (NSG) commandos, opened by Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday evening, is the first of four new centres across the country.

The others in Kolkata, eastern India, and the southern cities of Chennai and Hyderabad open on Wednesday.

Security officials say the new base - temporarily housed near Mumbai's international airport until a permanent facility nearby is operational next year - will reduce incident response times drastically.

But security analysts said India still has a long way to go to improve its counter-terrorism capabilities, despite an increase in defence spending since last year.

Mr Ajai Sahni, editor of the South Asian Intelligence Review and executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi, described the regional NSG units as a 'token' response.

'Any terrorist attack realises its potential within the first few minutes,' he told AFP.

'If you have a unit in north Mumbai and south Mumbai is attacked, in the 45 minutes to two hours it takes to get there, the terrorists have already done their worst.' Better training and equipment for India's overstretched and under-funded local police to help them contain the situation as the first line of defence would be a more viable option, he added.

'We're still committed to the 'Rambo' model. We think a handful of strong, well-trained men can take on the world. That might happen in films but it's nonsense in reality,' he added.

Nicknamed the 'Black Cats', the NSG is modelled on the British Army's elite Special Air Service (SAS) and the GSG-9, the specialist operations unit of the German police. -- AFP