The Council of Ministers is made up of three kinds of ministers: cabinet ministers, ministers of state, and deputy ministers. The distinction between them is based on their differing ranks, emoluments, and political significance. The Prime Minister – the country's primary governing authority – sits above all of these ministers.

Cabinet ministers are in charge of key ministries in the Central government, including as home affairs, defence, finance, and foreign affairs. They are cabinet members, attend cabinet meetings, and play a key part in policy decisions. As a result, their tasks encompass the entire scope of Central government.

Ministers of state can be granted independent charge of ministries or departments, or they can be connected to cabinet ministers. In the case of attachment, they may be granted command of departments of ministries led by cabinet ministers or assigned special tasks connected to ministries led by cabinet ministers. In both circumstances, they work under the supervision and guidance of the cabinet ministers, as well as the ultimate charge and responsibility of the cabinet ministers. In the case of independent charge, they execute the same responsibilities and have the same powers as cabinet ministers in relation to their ministers/departments. They are not, however, members of the cabinet and do not attend cabinet sessions unless they are specifically invited when anything pertaining to their ministers/departments is being discussed by the cabinet.

The deputy ministers are the next in line. They are not given authority over ministries or departments. They work with cabinet ministers or ministers of state to help them with administrative, political, and parliamentary obligations. They are not cabinet members and do not attend cabinet meetings.

It should also be noted that there is a separate group of ministers known as parliamentary secretaries. They belong to the last category of the council of ministers (commonly known as the'ministry'). They are in charge of no department. They are linked to senior ministers and support them in carrying out their parliamentary responsibilities. However, save for the first part of Rajiv Gandhi's government, no parliamentary secretaries have been appointed since 1967.

A deputy prime minister may be included on occasion in the council of ministers. Thus, Sardar Patel served as deputy prime minister in Pandit Nehru's government, Morarji Desai in Indira Gandhi's ministry, Charan Singh in Morarji Desai's ministry, Jagjivan Ram in Charan Singh's ministry, Devi Lal in VP Singh's ministry, and L.K. Advani in AB Vajpayee's ministry. Deputy Prime Ministers are generally selected for political reasons.