The flight to Milan had taken off at 3 pm today. (File photo)
Nearly 40 minutes after take-off for Milan, an Air India plane returned to Delhi this evening after reports of smoke filling the passenger cabin.
Delhi Police Chief BN Bassi tweeted an alert.
The plane, a Boeing Dreamliner, landed in Delhi with ambulances and fire engines on stand-by.
"Delhi-Milan flight AI 137 made a safe precautionary landing at Delhi Airport today due to minor smoke detected in the cabin," said the airline.
There were 167 passengers on board; all were evacuated and transferred to another aircraft.