| 1 | Jawaharlal Nehru | August 15, 1947 - May 27, 1964 | Indian National Congress | 16 years, 286 days |
| 2 | Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) | May 27, 1964 - June 9, 1964 | Indian National Congress | 13 days |
| 3 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | June 9, 1964 - January 11, 1966 | Indian National Congress | 1 year, 216 days |
| 4 | Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) | January 11, 1966 - January 24, 1966 | Indian National Congress | 13 days |
| 5 | Indira Gandhi | January 24, 1966 - March 24, 1977 | Indian National Congress | 11 years, 59 days |
| 6 | Morarji Desai | March 24, 1977 - July 28, 1979 | Janata Party | 2 years, 126 days |
| 7 | Charan Singh (Acting) | July 28, 1979 - August 14, 1979 | Janata Party | 17 days |
| 8 | Indira Gandhi (Second Term) | January 14, 1980 - October 31, 1984 | Indian National Congress | 4 years, 291 days |
| 9 | Rajiv Gandhi | October 31, 1984 - December 2, 1989 | Indian National Congress | 5 years, 32 days |
| 10 | Vishwanath Pratap Singh | December 2, 1989 - November 10, 1990 | Janata Dal | 1 year, 343 days |
| 11 | Chandra Shekhar | November 10, 1990 - June 21, 1991 | Samajwadi Janata Party | 224 days |
| 12 | P. V. Narasimha Rao | June 21, 1991 - May 16, 1996 | Indian National Congress | 4 years, 330 days |
| 13 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | May 16, 1996 - June 1, 1996 | Bharatiya Janata Party | 16 days |
| 14 | H. D. Deve Gowda | June 1, 1996 - April 21, 1997 | Janata Dal | 324 days |
| 15 | Inder Kumar Gujral | April 21, 1997 - March 19, 1998 | Janata Dal | 332 days |
| 16 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Second Term) | March 19, 1998 - May 22, 2004 | Bharatiya Janata Party | 6 years, 64 days |
| 17 | Manmohan Singh | May 22, 2004 - May 26, 2014 | Indian National Congress | 10 years, 4 days |
| 18 | Narendra Modi | May 26, 2014 - Present | Bharatiya Janata Party | As of September 2021, ongoing |
