The Union executive consists of the President, the Vice-President and the Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as the head to aid and advise the President. There is a Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister, to aid and advise the President in exercise of his functions. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President who also appoints other ministers on the advice of Prime Minister. The Council is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. The Cabinet Secretariat functions directly under the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the Chairman of the Council.
| NAME | TENURE |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | August 15, 1947 – May 27, 1964 |
| Gulzari Lal Nanda (Acting) | May 27, 1964 – June 9, 1964 |
| Lal Bahadur Shastri | June 09, 1964 – January 11, 1966 |
| Gulzari Lal Nanda (Acting) | January 11, 1966 – January 24, 1966 |
| Indira Gandhi | January 24, 1966 – March 24, 1977 |
| Morarji Desai | March 24, 1977 – July 28, 1979 |
| Charan Singh | July 28, 1979 – January14 , 1980 |
| Indira Gandhi | January 14, 1980 – October 31 , 1984 |
| Rajiv Gandhi | October 31, 1984 – December 01, 1989 |
| Vishwanath Pratap Singh | December 02, 1989 – November 10, 1990 |
| Chandra Shekhar | November 10, 1990 – June 21, 1991 |
| P.V. Narasimha Rao | June 21, 1991 – May 16, 1996 |
| Atal Bihari Vajpayee | May 16, 1996 – June 01, 1996 |
| H.D. Deve Gowda | June 01, 1996 – April 21, 1997 |
| I.K. Gujral | April 21, 1997 – March 18, 1998 |
| Atal Bihari Vajpayee | March 19, 1998 – October 13, 1999 |
| Atal Bihari Vajpayee | October 13, 1999 – May 22, 2004 |
| Dr. Manmohan Singh | May 22, 2004 – May 26, 2014 |
| Narendra Modi | May 26, 2014 – Incumbent |
