In India’s parliamentary system, the Constitution names the President as head of government, but his executive powers are vested in the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister of India is the chief executive of the Indian Government. He is appointed and sworn-in by the President, He is usually the leader of the party or alliance that has a majority in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s Parliament.
India has had fourteen Prime Ministers since 1947, fifteen including Gulzarilal Nanda who twice acted in the role. The first Prime Minister was Jawaharlal Nehru of the Indian National Congress party, who was sworn in on 15 August 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru remains India’s longest-serving prime minister. He was succeeded by fellow Congressman Lal Bahadur Shastri. Indira Gandhi, Nehru’s daughter, succeeded Shastri in 1966 to become the country’s first woman premier. The Present prime minister of India is Narendra Modi since 26 may 2014.
Although the Prime Minister can be a member of either house of the Parliament, they have to command the confidence of the Lok Sabha. Upon dissolution of the Lok Sabha, the outgoing PM remains in office until their successor is sworn-in. The tenure of prime minister in five years.
| S.No. | Name | Party (Alliance) | Term of Office | Appointed by |
| 1. | Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) | Indian National Congress (INC) | 15 Aug 1947 to 27 May 1964 | Lord Mountbatten & Rajendra Prasad |
| 2 | Gulzarilal Nanda (acting)(1898–1998) | Indian National Congress (INC) | 27 May 1964 to 09 June 1964 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 3 | Lal Bahadur Shastri(1904–1966) | Indian National Congress (INC) | 09 June 1964 to 11 Jan 1966 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 4 | Gulzarilal Nanda (acting)(1898–1998) | Indian National Congress (INC) | 11 Jan 1966 to 24 Jan 1966 | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| 5 | Indira Gandhi(1917–1984) | Indian National Congress (INC) | 24 Jan 1966 to 24 March 1977 | V.V. Giri |
| 6 | Morarji Desai(1896–1995) | Janta Party | 24 March 1977 to 28 July 1979 | B.D. Jatti (acting President) |
| 7 | Charan Singh(1902–1987) | Indian National Congress (INC) | 28 March 1979 to 14 Jan 1980 | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| 8 | Indira Gandhi(1917–1984) | Indian National Congress (INC) | 14 Jan 1980 to 31 Oct 1984 | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| 9 | Rajiv Gandhi(1944–1991) | Indian National Congress (INC) | 31 Oct 1984 to 02 Dec 1989 | Zail Singh |
| 10 | Vishwanath Pratap Singh(1931–2008) | Janata Dal (National Front) | 02 Dec 1989 to 10 Nov 1990 | R. Venkataraman |
| 11 | Chandra Shekhar(1927–2007) | Samajwadi Janata Party with INC | 10 Nov 1990 to 21 June 1991 | R. Venkataraman |
| 12 | Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao(1921–2004) | Indian National Congress (INC) | 21 June 1991 to 16 May 1996 | R. Venkataraman |
| 13 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee(1924-Present) | Bharatiya Janata Party | 16 May 1996 to 01 June 1996 | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| 14 | Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda(1933-Present) | Janata Dal (United Front) | 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997 | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| 15 | Inder Kumar Gujral(1919–2012) | Janata Dal (United Front) | 21 April 1997 to 19 March 1998 | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| 16 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee(1924-Present) | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | 19 March 1998 to 22 May 2004 | K. R. Narayanan |
| 17 | Manmohan Singh (1932-Present) | Indian National Congress (UPA) | 22 May 2004 to 26 May 2014 | A.P.J. Abdul Kalam & Pratibha Patil |
| 18 | Narendra Modi (1950-Present) | Bharatiya Janata Party (NDA) | 26 May 2014 to Till Date | Pranab Mukherjee |