India Inc. has a weak show in 2024 Padma honours list
Just four persons from the world of business were named for the country’s top civilian honours ahead of Republic Day, the least-represented major field for the Padma awards this year. Their share among all recipients—3% out of total 132 awardees—has been tiny for two years in a row, a Mint analysis of data from the home affairs ministry showed. Last year, three of the 106 Padma awardees (2.8%) were from the ‘trade and industry’ category, a sharp decline from a 7.8% share in 2020 and 7.1% in 2022.
This number had hit a peak of nearly 11% in 2010. The four ‘trade and industry’ Padma awardees this year were: Jindal Aluminium Ltd chairperson Sitaram Jindal, Taiwanese company Foxconn’s chairperson Young Liu, long-time banker Kalpana Morparia, and serial entrepreneur Shashi Soni. While Jindal and Liu were conferred the Padma Bhushan, the other two received the Padma Shri honour.
The 2024 honours list, released on Thursday, named 55 individuals from the field of art, 19 from literature and education, 13 from medicine, 12 from social work, seven each from sports and science, and six from public affairs. Historically, art has been the biggest category among the four top honours in India (the Bharat Ratna and the three Padma awards), with 23% of all 5,236 recipients so far, followed by literature and education (19%). Only one businessperson has ever been named Bharat Ratna: industrialist J.R.D.
Tata in 1992. The distribution of Padma awards in 2024 reflects a diverse pattern across India's 36 states and union territories, with 32 of them represented at least once. Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra received the most Padma Awards (12 each), closely followed by West Bengal (11) and Karnataka (nine).
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