Air India says there were 169 Indian nationals on the flight, as well as 53 Britons, one Canadian national and seven Portuguese nationals aboard its plane that crashed shortly after take off in Ahmedabad.
The plane was flying to Gatwick in London.
There has been no information about the level of casualties.
Tracking website Flightradar24 says it received the last signal from the aircraft at 625 feet (190m) “just seconds after take off”.
The jet came down in a residential neighbourhood and videos from the scene show black smoke rising over buildings in the residential area of the city.
Reporters on the scene in Ahmedabad say the site is shocking, with rescue workers still trying to put out a huge fire.
This Air India crash is the first time a Boeing 787 aircraft has come down like this.
The model was launched 14 years ago and just six weeks ago Boeing the planemaker lauded the fact the model, also known as the Dreamliner, has reached the milestone of carrying 1bn passengers.
To mark that occasion the company said the global 787 fleet of more than 1,175 airplanes has flown nearly 5 million flights covering more than 30 million flight hours.
The crash is a major blow for the company which has been struggling to overcome a range of problems, including fatal crashes, with its 737 programmes.
It will be another test for CEO Kelly Ortberg who is about to mark his first anniversary in the job.
He was brought in to try and help the US planemaker sort out a range of problems that were raising questions about its future.
