India is a Sovereign (means supreme or independent) Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of government. The Republic is governed in terms of the Constitution. Sovereignty is shared between the centre and the state government, but the central government is given greater powers. The President is the constitutional head of Executive of the Union. Real executive power vests in a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as head of government. The State resembles the federal system. In the states, the Governor is the head of Executive, but real executive power vests with the Chief Minister who heads the Council of Ministers. The judicial setup of the country is headed by the Chief justice, who presides over one of the largest judicial apparatus dispensing criminal, civil and all other forms of litigation. The government head of its legal wing its the Attorney General of India.

After the national elections are held the President calls the most suitable candidate to form the central government. Normally this candidate is the head of the largest party in the parliament. In case the central gov resigns because of any reason, the President can call the other candidate to form the next gov. The President can also declare, according to govt advice, new elections and if necessary an emergency state. The President has the right to be updated about crucial govt matters and other rights like giving amnesty to prisoners etc. According to the Constitution, elections are to be held once in every five years, unless the parliament dissolves earlier or, on the other hand, a state of emergency is declared, in which case parliament can continue for another year.

The Parliament consists of two houses. The Lower House is called the Lok Sabha and the Upper House is called the Rajya Sabha. In the national elections candidates are chosen for the Lower House. The candidates are elected in territorial constituencies. There are 543 territorial constituencies in the country. The Upper House, Rajya Sabha, consists of up to 250 members. Of these members, 230 are elected by state legislatures and about 15 are nominated by the President. Unlike the Lower House, the Upper House cannot be dissolved, but one third of its members resign every two years.

The Upper House, Rajya Sabha, consists of up to 250 members. Of these members 230 are elected by state legislatures and about 15 are nominated by the President. Unlike the Lower House, the Upper House cannot be dissolved, but one third of its members resign every two years. Most of the parliamentary activities, passing laws, no-confidence votes, budget bills, take place in the Lower House of parliament. The Upper House together with the Lower House amends the Constitution. These two Houses together with the state legislatures also elect the President.

The states have their own legislatures. Some states have two Houses and some only one House. The Lower House where most of the legislature activities happen is called the Vidhan Sabha. The state elections are held every five years unless the state governments are dissolved earlier.

The supreme court of India presides over an identical judicial apparatus in the state, where the judicial head is the chief justice of the system, and from the government side the attorney general.

The Government of India officially referred to as the Union Government, and commonly as Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of a federal union of 28 states and 7 union territories, collectively called the Republic of India. The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major parliamentary legislation, such as the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, etc. The federal (union) and individual state governments consist of executive, legislative and judicial branches. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common and Statutory Law. India accepts International Court of Justice jurisdiction with several reservations. At the local level, the Panchayati Raj system has several decentralised administrative functions.

Legislative branch
India's bicameral parliament (also known as the Sansad) consists of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The Union Council of Ministers is responsible to the Lok Sabha. In India's parliamentary system, the executive is nominally subordinate to the legislature. There are 542 members in the Lok Sabha that are elected from the various states on the basis of proportional representation.

The Indian Government uses two official languages: Hindi and English.

President of India
The government exercises its broad administrative powers in the name of the President of India, who is the Head of State, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the chief guardian of the Constitution of the Republic.

The President's actual role is mostly ceremonial. He or she is the Supreme Commander of the nation's armed forces, has the authority to dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections, declare a state of emergency, and dismiss governments in the states, but all upon the counsel of the Prime Minister and the elected government.

The Council of Ministers
Real national executive power is centered in the Council of Ministers, the Union Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister of India, who is the Head of Government. The President appoints the Prime Minister, who is the designated leader of the political party or coalition commanding parliamentary majority. All Central Government decisions are nominally taken in the name of the President.

The Union Ministries
The Ministers may be of 3 types - Cabinet Minister, Minister of State (Independent Charge) and deputy ministers, in order of seniority. Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State with independent charge may usually attend Cabinet meetings.
The day-to-day enforcement and administration of national laws lies in the hands of the various federal Union Ministries and Departments, created by the Indian Parliament to deal with specific areas of national and international affairs. In matters delegated to the States, Ministries act in advisory and funding capacity.

• Ministry of Agriculture
• Ministry of Agro and Rural Industries
• Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
• Ministry of Civil Aviation
• Ministry of Coal
• Ministry of Commerce and Industry
• Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
• Ministry of Company Affairs
• Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
• Ministry of Culture
• Ministry of Defence
• Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
• Ministry of Earth Sciences
• Ministry of Environment and Forests
• Ministry of External Affairs
• Ministry of Finance
• Ministry of Food Processing Industries
• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
• Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
• Ministry of Home Affairs
• Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
• Ministry of Human Resource Development
• Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
• Ministry of Labour and Employment
• Ministry of Law and Justice
• Ministry of Mines
• Ministry of Minority Affairs
• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
• Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs
• Ministry of Panchayati Raj
• Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
• Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
• Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
• Ministry of Planning
• Ministry of Power
• Ministry of Railways
• Ministry of Rural Development
• Ministry of Science and Technology
• Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways
• Ministry of Small Scale Industries
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
• Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
• Ministry of Steel
• Ministry of Textiles
• Ministry of Tourism
• Ministry of Tribal Affairs
• Ministry of Urban Development
• Ministry of Water Resources
• Ministry of Women and Child Development
• Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• Central Government (Independent Departments)
• Department of Atomic Energy
• Department of Space

Judicial branch
India's independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of Anglo-Saxon countries. The Supreme Court of India consists of a Chief Justice and 25 associate justices, all appointed by the President on the advice of the Chief Justice of India. In the 1960s, India moved away from using juries for most trials, finding them to be corrupt and ineffective, instead almost all trials are conducted by judges.

Unlike its US counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state and federal level. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India, High Courts at the state level, and District and Session Courts at the district level.

Revenues of Government
Gross tax revenues of the Government of India has grown steadily from around Rs.1 billion in 1945 to over Rs.1 trillion by 1995. It is expected to reach Rs.8 trillion by 2010 at the current rate of growth. Given below is a chart of trend of gross tax revenues (before splitting shares of States) of the Government of India assessed by the Finance Commissions from time to time with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.