Two hundred patients requiring induction of labour were assigned a preinduction score according to Dhall's criteria and Bishop's criteria. A score of 9 or more (Dhall) and 6 or more (Bishop) had favourable outcomes with successful induction in more than 90% of patients and an induction delivery interval (IDI) of less than 12 hours. In multiparas a Dhall score of more than 7 had a sensitivity and specificity of 88.6% and 90.0% respectively in predicting induction outcome compared to Bishop score sensitivity of 86.3% and low specificity of 47.4%. Correlation of the score with IDI as a dependent variable also showed that the Dhall score had a better predictive value than the Bishop score.