Concept:
India is often described as a federal country in practice, but the actual text of the Constitution is more specific about how it labels the country.
Explanation:
Article 1 of the Constitution states that "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States," deliberately avoiding the word "federal." The framers chose this phrasing to stress that the Indian Union is not the result of an agreement between states, and that no state has the right to secede, unlike a classic federation. Part III deals with Fundamental Rights and does not use the term either, Article 368 covers the procedure for amending the Constitution, and the Preamble describes India as "Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic," again without the word "federal."
Final Answer:
The word "federal" does not appear anywhere in the Indian Constitution, so option C is correct.