Late actor Dharmendra will be awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian honor. On the eve of Republic Day, the central government announced 131 Padma awards for the year 2026. These include five Padma Vibhushans, 13 Padma Bhushans, and 113 Padma Shris.

Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran leftist leader V.S. Achuthanandan (posthumously), former Supreme Court Justice K.T. Thomas, Hindustani classical musician and renowned violinist N. Rajam, and renowned Malayalam journalist P. Narayanan will also be honored with the Padma Vibhushan.

Indian women's hockey team player Savita Punia of Haryana will be awarded the Padma Shri for her outstanding contributions to sports. Khemraj Sundariyal of Haryana has been announced to be awarded the Padma Shri for preserving the Jamdani weaving technique and teaching it to thousands of artisans. Sundariyal revived the Panipat 'Khes' with new designs and introduced the use of polyester thread in handlooms.

Punjab's Women's ODI World Cup-winning captain Harmanpreet Kaur, veteran coach Baldev Singh, and Sant Niranjan Das will be honored with the Padma Shri.

Inderjit Singh Sidhu (88), a retired DIG of Punjab who lives in Chandigarh, will be awarded the Padma Shri for social service. Sidhu, a former IPS officer, has been involved in street cleaning campaigns for the past several years. He goes out every morning with a broom.

Dr. Prem Lal Gautam, a renowned agricultural scientist from Himachal Pradesh, will be awarded the Padma Shri for his outstanding contributions in the fields of science and engineering.

Playback singer Alka Yagnik, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari, actor Mammootty, and banker Uday Kotak are among those selected for the Padma Bhushan. Piyush Pandey, known as the "Ad Guru," Shibu Soren, founder of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and senior BJP leader VK Malhotra will be awarded the Padma Bhushan posthumously, while character actor Satish Shah will be honored with the Padma Shri.

Renowned tennis player Vijay Amritraj will be awarded the Padma Bhushan, while cricketer Rohit Sharma will be awarded the Padma Shri. Former Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Professor Jagdish Kumar, former CEO of Prasar Bharati, Shashi Shekhar Vempati, actors R. Madhavan and Prasenjit Chatterjee are among the personalities selected for the Padma Shri.

The personalities selected for the Padma awards include 90 women and six individuals from categories such as Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs).

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian Air Force officer to travel to the International Space Station, will be awarded the Ashok Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award. On the eve of Republic Day, President Draupadi Murmu approved the conferment of gallantry awards on 70 armed forces personnel. This year, one Ashok Chakra, three Kirti Chakras, 13 Shaurya Chakras, including one posthumous, one Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry) and 44 Sena Medals (Gallantry) will be awarded. Major Arshdeep Singh, Naib Subedar Doleshwar Subba and Group Captain Prashant Balakrishnan Nair have been announced as recipients of the Kirti Chakra.