In a separate "Face-off" poll, Modi has been pitted against Indonesia's new president Joko Widodo.
The other candidates in the fray for the 'Person of the Year' title are US President Barack Obama, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, IS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, US Secretary of State John Kerry and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Among the business chiefs and artists in the fray are Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba founder Jack Ma, auto major GM's first female CEO Mary Barra, Apple CEO Tim Cook and singers Beyonce, Taylor Swift, reality star Kim Kardashian and actress Jennifer Lawrence.
Last year's 'Person of the Year', Pope Francis, is also among the candidates along with the 200 Nigerian girls kidnapped by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
