India’s links to the Nobel Prizes are a mix of homegrown laureates, Indian-born scientists and authors who later worked abroad, and international figures whose lives and work were deeply connected to India. Below is a clear, year-by-year guide to every Nobel laureate who is widely regarded as an “Indian” Nobel Prize winner (either Indian citizens, Indian residents at the time of award, or Indian-born / Indian-origin laureates) from 1913 through 2025 — with short bios, their prize citation, and why each award mattered.
Quick snapshot
As of 2025, the list of Nobel laureates commonly associated with India includes laureates awarded between 1913 and 2019, spanning Literature, Physics, Physiology/Medicine, Peace and Economic Sciences. (No new Indian winners were named after 2019 through 2025.) Wikipedia+1
Laureates who were Indian citizens or were residing in India when awarded
1. Rabindranath Tagore — Nobel Prize in Literature, 1913
Why: Tagore was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature “because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse.” He was the first non-European and the first Asian to receive a Nobel Prize. Tagore’s poems and songs (some later translated by himself into English) brought Bengali literature to the wider world and became an emblem of modern Indian thought and culture. NobelPrize.org+1
2. C. V. Raman — Nobel Prize in Physics, 1930
Why: Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman won for his work on the scattering of light and for discovering what became known as the Raman Effect — a fundamental discovery in light-matter interaction that opened many experimental and applied directions in spectroscopy and materials science. His win was a milestone for Indian science on the global stage. NobelPrize.org+1
3. Mother Teresa — Nobel Peace Prize, 1979
Why: Awarded “in recognition of her work in bringing help to suffering humanity,” Mother Teresa’s award acknowledged decades of humanitarian service in Calcutta (Kolkata). (She was born in what is today North Macedonia and later lived and worked in India; the Nobel Foundation’s biographical pages note her background and work centered in Calcutta.) NobelPrize.org+1
4. Amartya Sen — Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, 1998
Why: Amartya Sen received the 1998 Prize for his contributions to welfare economics — especially his work on famine, poverty, welfare and human development, which reshaped how economists and policymakers think about development, well-being and rights. His ideas helped introduce broader concepts (capabilities, freedoms) into development policy debates worldwide. NobelPrize.org
5. Kailash Satyarthi — Nobel Peace Prize, 2014
Why: Awarded jointly with Malala Yousafzai “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.” Satyarthi’s decades-long activism to end child labour and trafficking in India (founding Bachpan Bachao Andolan, leading global marches and campaigns) was central to the prize. NobelPrize.org+1
Indian-born / Indian-origin laureates (awarded while living/working abroad or holding other citizenship)
These individuals were born in British India (or India), or have Indian ancestry, and are commonly counted in lists of Indian Nobel laureates because of their origins or formative ties to the subcontinent.
6. Har Gobind Khorana — Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1968
Why: Shared the 1968 prize for work that deciphered how the order of nucleotides in nucleic acids controls protein synthesis (the genetic code). Khorana was born in Raipur (then British India), carried out Nobel-winning research in North America, and became an influential molecular biologist. NobelPrize.org
7. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar — Nobel Prize in Physics, 1983
Why: Awarded for theoretical studies of processes important to the structure and evolution of stars (Chandrasekhar Limit, stellar evolution theory). Born in British India, Chandrasekhar’s fundamental astrophysics work was carried out mainly in the United States and became foundational to modern stellar astrophysics. NobelPrize.org+1
8. Venkatraman (Venki) Ramakrishnan — Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2009
Why: Shared the 2009 prize for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome — a molecular machine essential for protein synthesis. Born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, Ramakrishnan worked chiefly in the UK (and later the US) at the time of the award. His structural biology helped explain how genetic information is translated to proteins. NobelPrize.org+1
9. Abhijit Banerjee — Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences, 2019
Why: Awarded (jointly with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer) for an experimental approach to alleviating global poverty — notably using randomized controlled trials to evaluate what works in development interventions. Banerjee was born in India (Mumbai) and has worked mainly in the U.S.; his methods have deeply influenced development policy and the evidence-based approach to poverty alleviation. NobelPrize.org+1
A few clarifying notes (common questions)
Who counts as an “Indian” Nobel laureate?
Different lists use different rules. Some lists include only persons who were Indian citizens and living in India when awarded; other lists include Indian-born individuals who later became foreign citizens, or foreign nationals whose major work was done in India. For clarity above, I grouped laureates into (A) those who were Indian citizens or residing in India at the time of the award and (B) Indian-born / Indian-origin laureates who received prizes while based abroad. This mirrors commonly used classifications. Wikipedia
Are there other Nobel laureates with Indian links?
Yes: several laureates were born in British India but later associated with other countries (for example earlier figures like Sir Ronald Ross and Rudyard Kipling are historically linked to India though they predate 1913 or are differently categorized). I focused on the widely cited group of laureates from 1913–2025 most commonly listed under “Indian Nobel laureates.” Wikipedia
Any winners after 2019 (through 2025)?
No new laureates widely identified as “Indian” were awarded Nobel Prizes after Abhijit Banerjee in 2019 and up to the current date (September 21, 2025). (The Nobel Prize lists and laureate pages up to 2024–2025 do not add additional Indian winners in 2020–2025.) NobelPrize.org+1
Short timeline (concise)
- 1913 — Rabindranath Tagore (Literature). NobelPrize.org
- 1930 — C. V. Raman (Physics). NobelPrize.org
- 1968 — Har Gobind Khorana (Physiology or Medicine) — Indian-born. NobelPrize.org
- 1979 — Mother Teresa (Peace) — lived and worked in India. NobelPrize.org
- 1983 — Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Physics) — Indian-born. NobelPrize.org
- 1998 — Amartya Sen (Economic Sciences). NobelPrize.org
- 2009 — Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (Chemistry) — Indian-born. NobelPrize.org
- 2014 — Kailash Satyarthi (Peace). NobelPrize.org
- 2019 — Abhijit Banerjee (Economic Sciences) — Indian-born. NobelPrize.org
What these prizes say about India (short reflection)
The Nobel record connected to India is rich and plural: literature and social thought (Tagore, Sen), fundamental physical science (Raman, Chandrasekhar), life sciences (Khorana), structural biology (Ramakrishnan), humanitarian activism (Mother Teresa, Kailash Satyarthi), and rigorous development economics (Banerjee). Several laureates were trained in India and carried the intellectual heritage forward internationally; others did their Nobel-winning work abroad after formative years in India. Together they reflect India’s contribution to arts, science and social change across the 20th and early 21st centuries. Wikipedia+2NobelPrize.org+2
Sources & further reading (selected primary sources)
- Nobel Foundation pages for each laureate (biographies, prize summaries and lectures): NobelPrize.org (Tagore; C.V. Raman; Har Gobind Khorana; Mother Teresa; S. Chandrasekhar; Amartya Sen; Venkatraman Ramakrishnan; Kailash Satyarthi; Abhijit Banerjee). NobelPrize.org+8NobelPrize.org+8NobelPrize.org+8
- Wikipedia: List of Indian Nobel laureates (for aggregated historical context and common categorizations). Wikipedia