Narendra Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a family of grocers in Vadnagar, Mehsana district, Bombay State (present-day Gujarat).
In 1978 Modi received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from School of Open Learning at University of Delhi, graduating with a third class.
Modi became an RSS sambhag pracharak (regional organiser) in 1978, overseeing RSS activities in the areas of Surat and Vadodara.
Five years later, in 1983, he received a Master of Arts degree in political science from Gujarat University, as an external distance learning student.
Modi was sworn in as Chief Minister on 7 October 2001.
On 27 February 2002, a train with several hundred passengers burned near Godhra, killing approximately 60 people.
Modi's cabinet had an emergency meeting on 19 July 2002, after which it offered its resignation to the Gujarat Governor S. S. Bhandari, and the state assembly was dissolved.
On 22 December 2002, Bhandari swore Modi in for a second term.
In July 2006, Modi criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh " for his reluctance to revive anti-terror legislation" such as the 2002 Prevention of Terrorism Act. He asked the national government to allow states to invoke tougher laws in the wake of the 2006 Mumbai train bombings.
After his election as prime minister, Modi resigned as the chief minister and as an MLA from Maninagar on 21 May 2014. Anandiben Patel succeeded him as the chief minister.
Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India on 26 May 2014.
Modi abolished the Planning Commission, replacing it with the National Institution for Transforming India, or NITI Aayog.
In October 2014, the Modi's government deregulated diesel prices.
He started a monthly radio programme titled "Mann Ki Baat" on 3 October 2014.
The economic policies of Modi's government focused on privatisation and liberalisation of the economy, based on a neoliberal framework. Modi liberalised India's foreign direct investment policies, allowing more foreign investment in several industries, including in defence and the railways. Other proposed reforms included making it harder for workers to form unions and easier for employers to hire and fire them; some of these proposals were dropped after protests. The reforms drew strong opposition from unions: on 2 September 2015, eleven of the country's largest unions went on strike, including one affiliated with the BJP.
Modi launched Ujjwala scheme to provide free LPG connection to rural households. The scheme led to an increase in LPG consumption by 56% in 2019 as compared to 2014. In 2019, a law was passed to provide 10% reservation to Economically weaker sections.
Modi's government put in place the Goods and Services Tax, the biggest tax reform in the country since independence. It subsumed around 17 different taxes and became effective from 1 July 2017.
He was again sworn in as Prime minister on 30 May 2019.