India hopes to test-fire a home-built inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) before the end of next year, a senior defence official said Friday.

"Efforts are on to test the next longer range Agni-V missile before December 2010," M. Natarajan, the scientific adviser to India's defence minister told reporters on the sidelines of the Aero India international air show here.

The Agni-V will have an ICBM range in excess of 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles).

The shorter range Agni-I and Agni-II ballistic missiles are currently being introduced into India's arsenal, although they are not fully operational.

An Agni-III, with a 1.5-tonne payload capacity and a range of 3,500 kilometres -- enabling it to strike targets deep inside China -- has been tested three times.