1986 in India

Incumbents

• President of India – Zail Singh
• Prime Minister of India – Rajiv Gandhi
• Chief Justice of India – Prafullachandra Natwarlal Bhagwati, Raghunandan Swarup Pathak

  Governors

• Assam –
• Bihar –
• Gujarat –
• Haryana –
• Himachal Pradesh –
• Jammu and Kashmir –
• Karnataka –
• Kerala –
• Madhya Pradesh –
• Maharashtra –
• Manipur –
• Meghalaya –
• Nagaland –
• Odisha –
• Punjab –
• Rajasthan –
• Sikkim –
• Tamil Nadu –
• Telangana –
• Tripura –
• Uttar Pradesh –
• West Bengal –

  Events

• 1 April – VSNL incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1956.
• 30 April – Operation Black Thunder conducted to flush out remaining Sikh extremists from the Golden Temple
• May – a new National Policy on Education announced by the Government
• September – Environment Protection Act
• 22 September – Australia-India test cricket match ends in a tie at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, becoming only the second tied test in the history.
• 27 October – Inland Waterways Authority of India
• November – Operation Brasstacks starts in Rajasthan
• November – 182-day Treasury Bill introduced
• 24 December – Consumer Protection Act

  Births

• 5 January – Deepika Padukone, actress
• 21 January - Sushant Singh Rajput,actor
• 4 February – Asif Ali, actor
• 6 June – Bhavana, actress.
• 17 September - Ravichandran Ashwin, cricketer.
• 2 October – Praveen Kumar, cricketer.
• 15 November – Sania Mirza, tennis player.
• 27 November - Suresh Raina, cricketer.

  Deaths

• 6 July – Jagjivan Ram, freedom fighter and social reformer.
• 13 December – Smita Patil, actress.