President Droupadi Murmu on Monday conferred 66 Padma awards at the first civil investiture ceremony for 2026 at Rashtrapati Bhavan, with banker Uday Kotak among those who received the Padma Bhushan.
The ceremony was held in the presence of Vice President C P Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home MinisterAmit Shah. The remaining awardees will be honoured in the second round of the investiture ceremony.
The Padma Awards 2026 were announced on January 25. This year, the government approved 131 Padma awards, including 5 Padma Vibhushan, 13 Padma Bhushan and 113 Padma Shri awards.
The awards cover fields such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports and civil service.
While only four awardees were officially listed under Trade and Industry, a broader business-linked list also includes names from advertising, real estate, social entrepreneurship and the food-processing industry.
Uday Kotak — Padma Bhushan
Uday Kotak, founder and director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, was awarded the Padma Bhushan. He was also among the awardees who received the honour from President Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday.
Kotak is one of India’s most prominent banking entrepreneurs and built Kotak Mahindra from a financial services firm into one of India’s leading private-sector banks.
Net worth: Forbes placed Uday Kotak at No. 10 among the richest Indian billionaires in its 2026 list, with a net worth of $14.4 billion as of March 1, 2026.
Piyush Pandey — Padma Bhushan, posthumous
Advertising legend Piyush Pandey was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan. Though officially listed under Art, Pandey is among the most important business-linked names in this year’s list because of his role in shaping India’s advertising and brand communication industry.
He spent over four decades with Ogilvy and was widely credited with giving Indian advertising a more rooted, colloquial and culturally resonant voice.
S K M Maeilanandhan — Padma Bhushan
S K M Maeilanandhan, Executive Chairman of SKM Group of Companies, was awarded the Padma Bhushan in the Social Work category. He had earlier received the Padma Shri in 2013. His work spans poultry-sector development, rural employment, consumer activism and social welfare initiatives.
Ashok Khade — Padma Shri
Ashok Khade, industrial entrepreneur and Managing Director of DAS Offshore Engineering, was awarded the Padma Shri. Khade’s journey has often been cited as a story of social mobility: he began his career at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders and later co-founded DAS Offshore Engineering, which works in offshore fabrication and engineering services for the oil and gas sector.
Satyanarayan Nuwal — Padma Shri
Satyanarayan Nuwal, founder and chairman of Solar Industries India, was awarded the Padma Shri. Solar Industries, headquartered in Nagpur, operates in industrial explosives, detonators, drones and ammunition, and has benefited from the growing defence manufacturing theme in India.
Net worth: In its 2025 report, Forbes reported Satyanarayan Nuwal and family to hold a net with of $6.6 billion.
T T Jagannathan — Padma Shri, posthumous
T T Jagannathan, Chairman Emeritus of the TTK Group and the man closely associated with the rise of Prestige as a household cookware and kitchen appliances brand, was awarded the Padma Shri posthumously. He was credited with helping turn Prestige from a pressure cooker brand into a broader kitchen solutions company.
Maganti Murali Mohan — Padma Shri
Maganti Murali Mohan was awarded the Padma Shri in the Art category. He is best known as a Telugu actor and producer, but he is also a businessman associated with the real estate sector through the Jayabheri Group. He has also served in public life, including as a Lok Sabha member.
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