The Government has announced 131 Padma awards for 2026, including five Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan, and 113 Padma Shri honors. Among the recipients, 19 are women, and 16 awards are being conferred posthumously. Notable awardees include actors Dharmendra and Mammootty, former Supreme Court judge KT Thomas, politician VS Achuthanandan, singer Alka Yagnik, and cricketer Rohit Sharma.
The Padma Bhushan list features playback singer Alka Yagnik, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Tamil Nadu’s Kallipatti Ramasamy Palaniswamy, and Malayalam actor Mammootty. Other distinguished recipients include Nori Dattatreyudu, tennis player Vijay Amritraj, industrialist S.K.M. Maeilanandhan, Shatavadhani R. Ganesh, banker Uday Kotak, and spiritual leader Vellappally Natesan. Piyush Pandey, V.K. Malhotra, and Shibu Soren have been honored posthumously with the Padma Bhushan.
A total of 113 individuals have received the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, recognizing distinguished service across arts, social work, public affairs, medicine, agriculture, literature, education, and sports. Among the sports personalities honored are star cricketer Rohit Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Indian women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur, hockey player Baldev Singh, K. Pajanivel, and goalkeeper Savita Punia.
