In 2026, science and engineering saw the highest number of Padma awardees in 12 years, while medicine saw the biggest haul in a decade. In both categories, 11 and 15 names were among the 131 recipients of India’s highest civilian honors announced by the government on Sunday evening ahead of Republic Day.
A total of 26 Padma awardees for science, engineering and medicine make up one-fifth of the list, the highest share since 2016, a historical analysis by Mint. Their combined share peaked at 40% in 2014. While these fields more often exceeded the 20% mark in the decades following the introduction of pricing in 1954, their share has remained consistently below that mark as of 2017.
Just four names from India Inc.
Meanwhile, only four business leaders appeared on the 2026 list, marking a further decline after a brief recovery last year.
Uday Kotakfounder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, received the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour. The other three were: Ashok Khade, managing director of DAS Offshore Engineering; Satyanarayan Nuwal, Founder-Chairman, Solar Industries India Ltd; and TT Jagannathan, Chairman Emeritus of TTK Group. They received the Padma Shri, the fourth highest honour. Jagannathan was awarded the title posthumously after his death in October 2025. The kitchen mogul was widely known for building Prestige into one of India’s most recognizable consumer brands.
The “business and industry” category has gained prominence in the 21st century, reflecting the growing status of business leaders in post-liberalisation India: nearly two-thirds of the 234 Padma honors ever awarded to businessmen have come since 2000. However, the trend has been uneven in recent years. In 2026, it was the second-lowest of all major categories, and the annual total reached double digits only twice in the past decade – 2020 and 2025.
Of the total of 5,510 degrees awarded since 1954, only 4.3% were from “commerce and industry”. One in three of them were from Maharashtra, while nearly 10% were foreigners. Industrialist JRD Tata remains the only business personality to have received the Bharat Ratna (1992).
List of Padma Awards: 2026
Five of the 131 awardees named on Sunday will receive the Padma Vibhushan, 13 the Padma Bhushan and 113 the Padma Shri. The names are officially announced on the eve of Republic Day but are actually handed over in person later in the year.
Actor Dharmendra, who died last year, was awarded the Padma Vibhushan along with former Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan (also posthumously). Other notable awardees include former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren (posthumously) and singer Alka Yagnik, who both received the Padma Shri. The 2026 list is the seventh longest: 139 names were announced last year, the most since 1972 (with 148 recipients) and 2020 (141 recipients).
What our analysis shows
The list continued to be dominated by the arts (44 names), followed by literature and education (18): these two categories combined accounted for almost half of the 131 names. This pattern strengthened over time. In the first decades after independence, civil service and public affairs officials were as frequent or more frequent recipients, but their relative presence has since diminished.
Art covers a range of cultural areas, from cinema to music and dance. It remains the most awarded category, accounting for nearly 24% of the total number of Padma awards given.
Public matters, which mostly refer to political or judicial figures, historically account for a relatively small share of awards: only 5.4%. But it dominates the list of the two highest civilian honors, with nearly 60% of all Bharat Ratna awards so far going to this category. Social work is another common area on these lists, with almost 10% of all beneficiaries since inception and a similar proportion is listed in 2026.
IN 2024a record five Bharat Ratnas were awarded in a single year – Karpoori Thakur, LK Advani, MS Swaminathan, Chaudhary Charan Singh and PV Narasimha Rao. Since then, no Bharat Ratna recipients have been named.
Historically, some of the most dominant states have had the lion’s share in politics, commerce and culture. Maharashtra has 873 names on these lists so far, the most of all: that’s a 16% share. Delhi follows closely with 847 awards (15%). However, both of these states are no longer as dominant: in 2020 they had a combined share of only 13% (down from 30% in 2010), as states like Gujarat, Odisha and Bihar gained visibility at the highest level.
In 2026, Delhi had just four names, while Maharashtra (15) and Tamil Nadu (13) led the way.
In addition, 330 titles went to foreigners and individuals of Indian origin, 124 of them to those domiciled in the US. There are six foreigners on the 2026 list, including two Padma Bhushans from the US: Dr. Nori Dattatreyudu (medicine) and Vijay Amritraj (sports).
Great Britain, France, Japan and Russia are also among the main foreign recipients.
Last year, Osamu Suzuki, Japanese businessman and chairman of Suzuki Motor Corp., was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan. Four Bharat Ratnas have been awarded to foreign nationals over the years: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Pakistan), Nelson Mandela (South Africa), Amartya Sen (who was based in the UK at the time of the award) and Pandit Ravi Shankar (USA).
