1972 in India

Events in the year 1972 in the Republic of India.

Incumbents

Andhra Pradesh – Khandubhai Kasanji Desai
Assam – Braj Kumar Nehru
Bihar – Dev Kant Baruah
Gujarat – Shriman Narayan
Haryana – Birendra Narayan Chakraborty
Himachal Pradesh – S. Chakravarti
Jammu and Kashmir – Bhagwan Sahay
Karnataka – Dharma Vira (until 1 February), Mohanlal Sukhadia (starting 1 February)
Kerala – V. Viswanathan
Madhya Pradesh – Satya Narayan Sinha
Maharashtra – Ali Yavar Jung
Manipur – B. K. Nehru (starting 21 January)
Meghalaya – B.K. Nehru
Nagaland – B.K. Nehru
Odisha –
- until 30 June: Shaukatullah Shah Ansari
- 1 July-8 November: Sardar Yojendra Singh
- starting 8 November: Basappa Danappa Jatti
Punjab – Dadappa Chintappa Pavate
Rajasthan – Sardar Hukam Singh (until 1 July), Sardar Jogendra Singh (starting 1 July)
Tamil Nadu – Kodardas Kalidas Shah
Tripura – B. K. Nehru
Uttar Pradesh –
- until 30 June: Bezawada Gopala Reddy
- 1 July-13 November: Shashi Kant Varma
- starting 14 November: Akbar Ali Khan
West Bengal – Anthony Lancelot Dias

21 January – Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya gets statehood.
19 March – India and Bangladesh sign a friendship treaty, after the withdrawal of the Indian troops.
14 June - Japan Air Lines Flight 471 crashed at Palam, Delhi killing 82 of the 87 on board.
26 June - Reserve Bank of India fixes buying and selling rates of Pound sterling with Indian rupee at £5.2910 and £5.2632 per Rs. 100 following the Government of the United Kingdom decision to float Pound sterling on 23 June. However the central rate remain unchanged at £5.2721 per Rs. 100.

2 July – Following Pakistan's surrender to India in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, both nations sign the historic bilateral Simla Agreement, agreeing to settle their disputes peacefully.
4 July - Reserve Bank of India revises buying and selling rates of Pound sterling with Indian rupee at £5.3333 and £5.3050 per Rs. 100 and kept central rates unchanged.
10 July – A stampede of elephants kills 24 people in the Chandaka Forest, Orissa.
August - Expulsion of Indians from Uganda
17 October - M. G. Ramachandran, forms the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam by splitting from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam starting a new phase in Dravidian movement.
19 October - Indian businessman Jayanti Dharma Teja sentenced to three year imprisonment for falsification of accounts of Jayanti Shipping Company.
15 November - Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was formed for independent statehood of Jharkhand from Bihar on birthday of Birsa Munda

5 April - Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers (Amendment) Act amended to include new states and union territories of Northeast India.
15 August - Postal Index Number (PIN Code) introduced in India.
9 September - Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 enacted.
31 October – Supreme Court of India began hearing of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala case.

31 March – Meena Kumari, actress (b. 1932).
14 April – George Reddy, Student and PDSU leader at OU campus Hyderabad (b. 1947).
29 May – Prithviraj Kapoor, actor and director (b. 1906).
20 July – Geeta Dutt, playback singer (b. 1930).
24 August – Venkatarama Ramalingam Pillai, freedom fighter and Tamil poet (b. 1888).