President Draupadi Murmu presented the Padma Awards for the year 2026 at Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 25. The Padma Awards are among the highest civilian honors in the country. Instituted in 1954, these awards are announced annually on Republic Day. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the President presented the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, and Padma Shri awards at the first civilian investiture ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
This year, the Government of India announced a total of 113 Padma Awards. The first civilian investiture ceremony included 66 Padma Awards, including two Padma Vibhushans, six Padma Bhushans, and 58 Padma Shris. The remaining Padma Awards will be presented in the second phase of the ceremony to be held later. Vice President CP Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, among other dignitaries, were present at the ceremony.
List of prominent personalities and their fields:
Padma Vibhushan
- Mr. Dharmendra Singh Deol (posthumous): For his contributions to the arts (cinema).
- Mr. Shibu Soren (posthumous): For his contributions to public service (former Chief Minister of Jharkhand).
Padma Bhushan
- Ms. Alka Yagnik: For his contributions to playback singing.
- Mr. Mammootty: For his contributions to Indian cinema and Malayalam cinema.
- Mr. Uday Kotak: For his contributions to business and industry.
- Mr. Vijay Amritraj: For his contributions to sports (tennis).
- Mr. Bhagat Singh Koshyari: For his contributions to public service (public affairs).
- Mr. K. Palaniswami: For his contributions to medicine.
Padma Shri
- Mr. Rohit Sharma: For his contributions to sports (cricket).
- Ms. Harmanpreet Kaur: For his contributions to sports (cricket).
- Ms. Savita Punia: For his contributions to sports.
- Mr. A.R. Madhavan: For his contributions to art.
- Mr. Praveen Kumar: For his contributions to sports (para-athlete).
Apart from this, there are 53 other personalities who were honoured with Padmashree by the President.