In 2025, the President of India approved the conferment of 139 Padma Awards, including one duo case (where two awards count as one) . These awards recognize exceptional achievements across various fields . The awards were announced on the eve of the 76th Republic Day and are typically presented in March or April at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi .
Here’s a breakdown of the awards:
- Padma Vibhushan: Awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, this highest category had 7 recipients .
- Padma Bhushan: For distinguished service of a high order, 19 individuals were honored .
- Padma Shri: This award recognizes distinguished service in any field, with 113 recipients .
Key highlights of the 2025 Padma Awards:
- Women Awardees: 23 of the awardees were women .
- Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI: The list included 10 individuals from these categories .
- Posthumous Awards: 13 awards were given posthumously .
A few notable awardees include:
- Padma Vibhushan:
- Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy (Medicine)
- Justice (Retd.) Jagdish Singh Khehar (Public Affairs)
- Kumudini Rajnikant Lakhia (Art)
- Lakshminarayana Subramaniam (Art)
- M. T. Vasudevan Nair (Posthumous) (Literature and Education)
- Osamu Suzuki (Posthumous) (Trade and Industry)
- Sharda Sinha (Posthumous) (Art)
- Padma Bhushan:
- A Surya Prakash (Literature and Education-Journalism)
- Anant Nag (Art)
- Bibek Debroy (Posthumous) (Literature and Education)
- Pankaj Patel (Trade and Industry)
- Pankaj Udhas (Posthumous) (Art)
- S Ajith Kumar (Art)
- Vinod Dham (Science and Engineering)
- Padma Shri:
- Arijit Singh (Art)
- Ashok Kumar Mahapatra (Medicine)
- Harvinder Singh (Sports)
- R Ashwin (Sports)
These Padam awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions held at Rashtrapati Bhawan . The awardees receive a Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion, along with a small clone of the medallion for ceremonial purposes . Their names are also published in the Gazette of India .