1966 in India

Events

• National income - 321,058 million

January - May

• 3 January – Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri and President of Pakistan Ayub Khan agree to the Tashkent Declaration, a peace pact mediated by the Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in Tashkent, Uzbek S.S.R.
• 11 January – Prime Minister Shastri dies of heart attack in Tashkent.
• 19 January – Supported by provincial Congress chief ministers, Indira Gandhi becomes prime minister.
• 24 January - Air India Flight 101 crashed into Mont Blanc killing the 117 passengers including Homi J. Bhabha who was in the flight. There was a similar aviation accident in the same spot in 1950.
• 5 March - Indian Air Force bombs Aizawl following Mizo National Front uprising.
• 28 March – Indira Gandhi visits Washington, D.C.
• 20 April – Lumding Train Bombing occurs on the North-East Frontier Railway.

June - December

• 6 June - First Indira Gandhi ministry devalues Indian rupee by 57%.
• 10 June - President of India promulgates Jayanti Shipping Company Ordinance, 1966 to take over shipping company owned by Jayanti Dharma Teja.
• 19 June: Shiv Sena founded by Bal Thackeray.
• 12 July – Indira Gandhi visits Moscow.
• 7 November - 1966 anti-cow slaughter agitation and ensuing violence took place.
• 17 November – Reita Faria, is crowned Miss World 1966, the first Indian to win the title.

Law

• 27 August – Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of India takes effect.
• 11 December – Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of India takes effect.
• 22 December – Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution of India takes effect.
• 29 December – Enactment of Seeds Act, creating central administration to oversee and certify seeds.

Sport

• Krishan Lal, is awarded the Padma Shri.

Births

• 3 January – Chetan Sharma, cricketer
• 11 January – Sunil Kumar Mahato, politician, assassinated.
• 22 January - Kesineni Srinivas, politician and member of parliament from Vijayawada.
• 28 January – Anjani Kumar, 1990 batch IPS officer
• 22 February – Babu Antony, actor and martial artist.
• 24 March - Galla Jayadev, politician and member of parliament from Guntur.
• 30 March Vikraman, film director.
• 17 April – Vikram, actor.
• 3 May – Firdous Bamji, actor.
• 15 May – M. Kumaran, politician.
• 30 May – Rajinder Garg, politician.
• 8 July Revathi, actress.
• 14 July – Sachin Puthran, entrepreneur.
• 28 August – Priya Dutt, politician.
• 1 September - Sonam Wangchuk, Indian engineer, innovator and education reformist.
• 12 September - Pramod Kureel, politician
• 26 September - Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji, Spiritual leader
• 24 October Nadhiya, actress.
• 30 October – K. V. Anand, cinematographer and film director
• 28 November – P. Ravi Shankar, actor, dubbing artist, director and writer.
• 5 December – Dayanidhi Maran, politician.

Full date unknown

• Raj Kamal Jha, novelist and journalist.
• September – Faisal Khan, actor.

Deaths

• 11 January – Lal Bahadur Shastri, politician and 2nd Prime Minister of India.
• Devarakonda Balagangadhara Tilak, poet, novelist and short story writer.
• 24 January – Homi J. Bhabha, Indian nuclear physicist.
• 26 February - Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian Freedom Fighter.