1974 in India

Events in the year 1974 in the Republic of India.

Incumbents

 * President of India – V. V. Giri (until 24 August), Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (after 24 August)
 * Prime Minister of India – Indira Gandhi
 * Vice President of India – Gopal Swarup Pathak until 30 August; B.D. Jatti
 * Chief Justice of India – Ajit Nath Ray

Governors

 * Andhra Pradesh – Khandubhai Kasanji Desai
 * Assam – L. P. Singh
 * Bihar – Ramchandra Dhondiba Bhandare
 * Gujarat – Kambanthodath Kunhan Vishwanatham
 * Haryana – Birendra Narayan Chakraborty
 * Himachal Pradesh – S. Chakravarti
 * Jammu and Kashmir – L. K. Jha
 * Karnataka – Mohanlal Sukhadia
 * Kerala – N. N. Wanchoo
 * Madhya Pradesh – Satya Narayan Sinha
 * Maharashtra – Ali Yavar Jung
 * Manipur – L.P. Singh
 * Meghalaya – L.P. Singh
 * Nagaland – L.P. Singh
 * Odisha –
 * until 20 August: Basappa Danappa Jatti
 * 21 August-25 October: Gati Krushna Misra
 * starting 25 October: Akbar Ali Khan
 * Punjab – Mahendra Mohan Choudhry
 * Rajasthan – Sardar Jogendra Singh
 * Tamil Nadu – Kodardas Kalidas Shah
 * Tripura – L. P. Singh
 * Uttar Pradesh – Akbar Ali Khan (until 25 October), Marri Chenna Reddy (starting 25 October)
 * West Bengal – Anthony Lancelot Dias

Events

 * National income - ₹793,779 million

January - March

 * 3 January - A protest against 20% canteen fee hike in Lalbhai Dalpatbhai College of Engineering, Ahmedabad turns into clashes with Police and later transformed to Navnirman Andolan.
 * 5 January – Worli riots occurred in the chawl in the Worli neighborhood of Mumbai. The tensions prevailed till April.
 * January – May smallpox epidemic in East India.
 * 19 February - Drillship Sagar Samrat struck oil at Bombay High, 160 km off the shore.
 * 16 March – Navnirman Andolan (Re-construction movement) a socio-political movement started in 1973 December in Gujarat by students and middle-class against economic crisis and corruption in public life. The movement ended with the dissolution of the elected government of Chimanbhai Patel.
 * 18 March – Bihar Movement started as a movement by students in Bihar led by the veteran Gandhian socialist Jayaprakash Narayan, against misrule and corruption in the Government of Bihar.
 * 25 March – Gaura Devi and 27 women confronted loggers in Chamoli district in connection with Chipko movement.
 * 28 March - Minister of Food and Agriculture Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed announced that Government of India has decided to scrap take over of wholesale wheat distribution.

April - December

 * 8 May – A railway strike started by 1.7 million workers of Indian Railways. The strike lasted for 20 days till 27 May 1974 and was the largest recorded industrial action in the world.
 * 18 May – Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon in the Thar Desert, and becomes the sixth nation to do so.
 * 28 June - Sirima–Gandhi Pact signed to solve the statelessness of Sri Lankan Tamils.
 * 5 July - Colaba area of Bombay registers intense rainfall of 57.5 cms in 24 hours.
 * 11–17 November - 1974 Indian Open held at Bombay.

Births

 * 1 January – Abha Dawesar, novelist.
 * 9 January – Farhan Akhtar, actor.
 * 7 January – Varun Badola, actor.
 * Hrithik Roshan promoting Mohenjo Daro.jpg January – [[Hrithik Roshan]], actor.
 * 25 February – Divya Bharti, actress (died 1993).
 * 28 February – Sunil (actor), actor and comedian.
 * 8 March – Fardeen Khan, actor.
 * 14 March – Rohit Shetty, film director.
 * 22 April – Chetan Bhagat, novelist.
 * 23 April – Shwetha Menon, actor.
 * Captain Vikram Batra Portrait.jpg]]20 May – Shiboprosad Mukherjee, film director, writer and actor.
 * 28 May – Mayur Puri, screenwriter, lyricist, actor, filmmaker.
 * 30 May – Mohan Raja, film director.
 * 7 June – Mahesh Bhupathi, tennis player.
 * Vijay at Protest of the Nadigar Sangam.jpg]]22 June – Joseph Vijay, actor and playback singer.
 * 22 June – Devayani, actress.
 * KarismaKapoor16.jpg]]25 June – Karisma Kapoor, actress.
 * 15 July – Neikezhakuo Kengurüse, kargil hero. (died 1999).
 * 5 August – Kajol, actress.
 * 9 September – Vikram Batra, Indian Army-KARGIL HERO. (died 1999).
 * 25 September – AR Murugadoss, film director.
 * 23 October – Aravind Adiga, journalist and author, 2008 Man Booker Prize winner.
 * 1 November – V. V. S. Laxman, cricketer.
 * 9 November – Manav Gohil, television actor
 * 19 December – MVP, Writer & Author.
 * 21 December – Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Indian Forest Service officer.
 * 25 December – Nagma, actress and politician.

Deaths

 * 4 February – Satyendra Nath Bose, physicist (b. 1894).
 * 11 February – Ghantasala, Telugu Play Back Singer (b.1922).
 * 23 September – Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur, last Maharaja of Mysore, philosopher, musicologist, political thinker and philanthropist (b. 1919).
 * 6 October – V. K. Krishna Menon, nationalist and politician (b. 1897).
 * 16 October – Chembai, Carnatic music singer (b. 1895).
 * 16 October – Edasseri Govindan Nair, poet, playwright and essayist (b. 1906).
 * J. P. Chandrababu, comedian-actor, singer and dancer (b. 1926).
 * Kshetresa Chandra Chattopadhyaya, scholar of Sanskrit (b. 1896).
 * Sucheta Kriplani, freedom fighter, politician and in Uttar Pradesh, became first woman to be elected Chief Minister of a state (b. 1908).
 * Matthew Pothen Thekaekara, scientist (b. 1914).