← 1945 1944 1943 1946 in India → 1947 1948 1949
Centuries:	18th 19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s
See also:	List of years in India Timeline of Indian history

Events in the year 1946 in India.

Incumbents

• Emperor of India – George VI
• Viceroy of India – The Viscount Wavell

Events

• National income - ₹77,566 million

January - June

• January – Royal Air Force Mutiny of 1946 of British and Indian air force units
• 11 February – I.N.A. trial demonstrations in Calcutta, several killed
• 12 February – Hartal in Calcutta over the killing of demonstrators the previous day
• 18 February – Start of the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny
• 22 February – Start of hartal in Bombay in support of the mutiny, which saw the British kill over 200 citizens
• 10 May – Nehru elected leader of the Congress Party.

July - December

• 16 August - All-India Muslim League calls for Direct Action Day and the resultant violence resulted in more than 3000 deaths.
• 19 August – Violence between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta leaves 3,000 dead.
• 2 September – interim government formed
• 4 September – Street violence between Muslims and Hindus in Bombay.
• 27 November – Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster."
• 1946 Cabinet Mission to India on March 24
• Tata Airlines renamed Air India.
• Provincial Elections

Law

• 9 December – Constituent Assembly for India meets for the first time.^[1]
• Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act
• Foreigners Act

Births

January to June

• 16 January – Kabir Bedi, actor.
• 1 February – Giri Babu, actor.
• 2 March – Morari Bapu, Hindu Kathakaar
• 7 March – Gerald Almeida, bishop of Jabalpur
• 18 March – Navin Nischol, actor of Bollywood films (died 2011).
• 4 June – S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, playback singer and actor (died 2020).

July to September

• 5 July – Mamukkoya, comedian actor.
• 5 July – Ram Vilas Paswan, politician. (died 2020).
• 17 July – Lalitha Lenin, poet and academic.
• 28 July – Saint Alphonsa, Sister Alphonsa Muttathupadathu, in 2008 became first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint (born 1910).
• 20 August – N. R. Narayana Murthy, industrialist and software engineer.
• 25 September – Bishan Singh Bedi, cricketer (died 2023).

October to December

• 11 October – Vijay P. Bhatkar, computer scientist.
• 12 October – Ashok Mankad, Test cricketer (died 2008).
• 15 October – Victor Banerjee, actor.
• 9 December – Sonia Gandhi, politician.
• 14 December – Sanjay Gandhi, politician
• 16 October - Naveen Patnaik, politician
• 26 December – Narendra Prasad, actor, playwright, teacher and literary critic (died 2003).
• 27 December – Vijay Arora, actor (died 2007).

Full date unknown

• Mani Damodara Chakyar, Kutiyattam and Chakyar Koothu artist.

Deaths

• 6 February – Upendranath Brahmachari, scientist and medical practitioner (born 1873).
• 12 October – Vellakal Palaniapa Subramania Mudaliar, retired veterinary college Dean, landlord, and Tamil scholar (born 1857).