Padma Vibhushan for Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan Nair, late singer Sharda Sinha

New Delhi: Bollywood singer Arijit Singh, late folk singer Sharda Sinha, Grammy-winning musician Ricky Kej and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur will be among the recipients of Padma Awards to be conferred by President Droupadi Murmu.

For the year 2025, the President has approved the conferment of 139 Padma Awards including 1 duo case (in a duo case, the Award is counted as one).

The list comprises 7 Padma Vibhushan, 19 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri Awards. Late folk singer Sharda Sinha former CEO of Suzuki Motor, late Osamu Suzuki to be awarded with Padma Vibhushan.

The Padma Vibhushan will also be awarded to Kathak exponent Kumudini Rajnikant Lakhia, and legendary violinist Lakshminarayana Subramaniam, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs press release.Veteran Malayalam author MT Vasudevan Nair, who died last December, has also been posthumously honoured with Padma Vibhushan.
The list of Padma Bhushan awardees includes Kannada actor Anant Nag, actor Jatin Goswami, Telugu actor Nandamuri Balakrishna, Tamil star S Ajith Kumar, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and actress Shobana Chandrakumar.

Veteran ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas is also being posthumously honoured with Padma Bhushan.

Renowned sculptor Adwaita Charan Gadanayak, calligraphy artist Achyut Ramchandra Palav, Bollywood singer Arijit Singh, comedian and actor Ashok Laxman Saraf, classical vocalist Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, Barry Godfray John, Bhimavva Doddabalappa Shillekyathara, singer Jaspinder Narula, Nirmala Devi, Nitin Nohria, P Datchanamoorthy, Pandi Ram Mandavi, Grammy-winning musician Ricky Kej, are among those being awarded Padma Shri.
The names also include Vasudeo Kamath, Velu Aasaan, and Venkappa Ambaji Sugatekar.

Padma Awards, one of the highest civilian Awards of the country are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc.

‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.
These Awards are conferred by the President of India at ceremonial functions which are held at Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/ April every year. 23 of the awardees are women and the list also includes 10 persons from the category of Foreigners/NRI/PIO/OCI and 13 posthumous awardees, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs press release.