New Delhi: President of India Droupadi Murmu conferred the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri awards for the year 2025 to 71 distinguished individuals during the Civil Investiture Ceremony-I held at Rashtrapati Bhavan’s Durbar Hall. The event was attended by key dignitaries, including Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The ceremony honoured a total of 139 recipients who were announced earlier on the eve of the 76th Republic Day in January, with 71 awardees receiving their honours on April 28.
Among the four recipients of the Padma Vibhushan; the country’s second-highest civilian award, two were honoured posthumously: Osamu Suzuki, former chief of Suzuki Motor Corporation, and renowned Malayalam writer and filmmaker M.T. Vasudevan Nair. The award was also presented to Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman of the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and AIG Hospitals, and violin maestro Dr. L. Subramaniam, both of whom received the honour in person.
Ten individuals were conferred with the Padma Bhushan, including noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, Telugu film actor Nandamuri Balakrishna, posthumously awarded singer Pankaj Udhas, and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi (posthumous). Others in the category included former Indian hockey goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh, Tamil actor S. Ajith Kumar, Zydus Lifesciences chairperson Pankaj Patel, and Indian-American engineer Vinod Dham, known as the ‘Father of the Pentium’.
The Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, was presented to 57 individuals across various fields. Among them were Lakshmipathy Ramasubbaiyer, publisher of the Tamil daily Dinamalar; Arundhati Bhattacharya, former chairperson of the State Bank of India; industrialist Pawan Kumar Goenka; wildlife researcher and author Maruti Bhujangrao Chitampalli; and master puppeteer Bhimavva Doddabalappa Shillekyathara, a pioneer of the traditional leather puppetry art form Togalu Gombeyaata.
Other Padma Shri recipients included former AIIMS and SGPGI director Dr. A.K. Mahapatra and Punjabi singer Jaspinder Narula Kaul. Notably, the awards also recognized 30 unsung heroes, including 100-year-old Libia Lobo Sardesai, a key figure in Goa’s freedom movement.
The Padma Awards are among the highest civilian honours in India and are presented annually in three categories — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri. Instituted in 1954, these awards recognize exceptional contributions in various disciplines, including art, literature, science, public affairs, social work, and sports. The Padma Vibhushan is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of a high order, and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.
BI Bureau
