President Droupadi Murmu Confers National Sports Awards 2025

President Droupadi Murmu conferred the prestigious National Sports Awards 2025, honouring India's outstanding athletes, coaches and sporting institutions for their exceptional achievements and contributions to the development of sports in the country.

राष्ट्रपति श्रीमती द्रौपदी मुर्मु ने राष्ट्रपति भवन में आयोजित समारोह में खेल एवं साहस पुरस्कार 2025 प्रदान किए। https://t.co/mm9sZXo9kT

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) November 13, 2026

The awards recognise excellence across various sporting disciplines, including athletics, boxing, shooting, wrestling, hockey, chess, kabaddi, rowing, para-sports and football. The honours also celebrate individuals who have played a significant role in nurturing sporting talent and strengthening India's presence on the international stage.

Dronacharya Award 2025: Recognising Coaching Excellence

The prestigious Dronacharya Awards were presented to coaches for their outstanding contributions to Indian sports.

Regular Category:

Parveer Singh (Athletics): Recognised for mentoring champions such as Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Annu Rani.

Chhote Lal Yadav (Boxing): Honoured for coaching distinguished boxers, including M. C. Mary Kom, Jaismine and Sakshi.

Neha Nandkumar Chavan (Shooting): Recognised for mentoring shooters such as Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita, Maddineni Uma Mahesh and Dhanush Srikanth.

Lifetime Achievement Category:

Virender Kumar (Wrestling): Honoured for mentoring accomplished wrestlers, including Ravi Kumar, Amit Kumar, Sumit, Lalita, Mohit and Deepak Punia.

Dharmendra Singh Yadav (Boxing): Recognised for mentoring boxers such as Mohammad Ali Qamar, Vikas Krishan, Mandeep Jangra, Manish Kaushik, Antres Lalit Lakra and Gaurav Solanki.

Arjuna Award 2025: Celebrating Sporting Excellence

President Droupadi Murmu conferred the prestigious Arjuna Award 2025 on outstanding Indian athletes in recognition of their exceptional performances and contributions to their respective sporting disciplines.

Sport-wise Awardees:

Athletics: Tejaswin Shankar, Muhammed Ajmal V.
Race Walking: Priyanka Goswami
Boxing: Narender
Chess: Vidit Santosh Gujarathi, Divya Jitendra Deshmukh
Deaf Shooting: Dhanush Srikanth
Hockey: Lalremsiami, Rajkumar Pal
Kabaddi: Surjeet, Pooja
Para Shooting: Rudransh Khandelwal
Para-Athletics: Ekta Bhyan
Rowing: Arvind Singh
Shooting: Akhil Sheoran

The awardees have brought laurels to India through their remarkable performances at prestigious international competitions, including the Olympic Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships and continental championships.

Lifetime Achievement: Footballer Isaiah

Arumainayagam received the Arjuna Award (Lifetime) 2025 for his outstanding contribution to Indian football and his role in strengthening the country's footballing legacy.

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards 2024

President Droupadi Murmu also conferred the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards 2024, recognising exceptional courage, endurance and achievements in adventure sports.

The recipients included:

Skalzang Rigzin: Recognised for outstanding mountaineering achievements, including scaling Mount Lhotse, Mount Annapurna and Mount Sagarmatha.

Baljeet Kaur: Honoured for scaling several of the world's highest peaks, including Sagarmatha, Annapurna, Kilimanjaro, Manaslu, Makalu, Lhotse and Kanchenjunga.

Rimo Saha: Recognised for remarkable water-adventure achievements, including swimming across the English Channel and completing challenging international swims.

Shiv Prasad Chamoli: Received the Lifetime Achievement honour for his contributions to adventure sports, including leading the Indo-New Zealand Himalayan Traverse and Indo-Japanese Brahmaputra Rafting Expedition.

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025

The Army Paralympic Node, Pune, received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025 for its outstanding contribution to promoting and developing para-sports in India.

The institution plays an important role in rehabilitating and training soldiers with disabilities for competitive para-sports. Its athletes have achieved remarkable success at national and international competitions, including the Paralympic Games, Asian Para Games and Asian Para Triathlon Championship.

The National Sports Awards highlight India's growing sporting ambitions and recognise the athletes, coaches and institutions working towards building a stronger sporting ecosystem. Their achievements continue to inspire the next generation and contribute to India's journey towards becoming a global sporting powerhouse.