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The Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2025, conferring the Arjuna Award for outstanding performance on 17 sportspersons across athletics, badminton, boxing, chess, hockey, kabaddi, rowing, shooting and para disciplines.
A separate Arjuna Award (Lifetime) went to footballer I. Arumainayagam, the category that honours those who continue to promote sport after retiring from active competition.
Five coaches received the Dronacharya Award — three in the Regular category (athletics, boxing, shooting) and two in the Lifetime category (boxing, wrestling).
The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025, meant for corporate bodies and NGOs that promote sport, went to a single entity: the Army Paralympic Node, Pune.
Selections were made by a committee chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Arun Kumar Mishra, with sportspersons, sports journalists and administrators as members; candidates self-applied through a dedicated online portal.
India's highest sporting honour, for the most spectacular and outstanding performance by a sportsperson over a period of four years.
Key: Instituted in 1992 with the first award for 1991-92; carries Rs 25 lakh, the highest cash component among the national sports awards. Renamed on 6 August 2021 from the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award after the hockey player Major Dhyan Chand. No recipient was named for 2025.
To recognise consistently outstanding performance by a sportsperson over the preceding four years, together with leadership, sportsmanship and discipline.
Key: Instituted in 1961, the oldest of the individual national sports awards; a bronze Arjuna statuette, certificate, ceremonial dress and Rs 15 lakh. Seventeen sportspersons were named for 2025.
To honour and motivate sportspersons who contributed through their performance and who continue to promote sport after retiring from active competition.
Key: Used in the 2025 announcement for a single awardee, the footballer I. Arumainayagam. It is distinct from the regular Arjuna Award, which measures performance over the previous four years.
To recognise coaches who have consistently produced outstanding results by enabling sportspersons to excel in international events.
Key: Instituted in 1985 and conferred in Regular and Lifetime categories; carries a bronze Dronacharya statuette, certificate, ceremonial dress and Rs 15 lakh. Five coaches were named for 2025.
To honour sportspersons for lifetime contribution to sport, including after their competitive careers end.
Key: Instituted in 2002 with a cash component that rose from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh and then to Rs 10 lakh. Its last publicly recorded conferment was for the award year 2024, on Sucha Singh and Murlikant Petkar.
To recognise organisations, rather than individuals, that promote and develop sport.
Key: Open to corporate entities — public or private — and to non-governmental organisations with a visible role in sports promotion. The Army Paralympic Node, Pune was the sole recipient for 2025.
To reward the overall top-performing university in inter-university sport and encourage competitive sport in the university system.
Key: Instituted in 1956-57 and awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports as a rolling trophy; Rs 15 lakh for first place, Rs 7.5 lakh for second and Rs 4.5 lakh for third. It is an institutional award and was not part of this announcement.
To build a mass sporting base — talent identification, sports infrastructure and competition at school, college and university level.
Key: Launched in 2018 under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. It sits at the base of the pyramid whose apex is the elite-athlete funding of TOPS.
To give identified elite athletes financial assistance and technical support aimed specifically at Olympic and major international medals.
Key: Launched in September 2014 under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and revamped in April 2018 with a dedicated technical support team. The Mission Olympic Cell grew out of the TOPS Elite Athletes' Identification Committee, which shortlists athletes for targeted support.
| Aspect | Khel Ratna | Arjuna Award | Dronacharya Award | Dhyan Chand Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instituted | 1992 (first award 1991-92) | 1961 | 1985 | 2002 |
| Given to | Sportsperson | Sportsperson | Coach | Sportsperson (lifetime) |
| Basis | Most spectacular performance over four years | Outstanding performance over the previous four years plus discipline and leadership | Consistent coaching results at international level | Lifetime contribution to sport |
| Cash prize | Rs 25 lakh | Rs 15 lakh | Rs 15 lakh | Rs 10 lakh |
| Status in the 2025 announcement | Not conferred | 17 regular + 1 Lifetime | 3 Regular + 2 Lifetime | Not part of this announcement |
Nodal ministry for the National Sports Awards, Khelo India and the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, and the ministry that administers the National Sports Governance Act, 2025.
Created under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. It grants recognition to national sports bodies and registers their affiliate units; only recognised bodies are eligible to receive funds from the central government.
Also created under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, to resolve sports disputes — federation elections, athlete selection and governance matters — quickly, instead of leaving them to prolonged litigation.
Passed by the Lok Sabha on 11 August 2025 and the Rajya Sabha on 12 August 2025, and assented to by the President on 18 August 2025 — a year to the day before this awards announcement. It creates a statutory framework for recognising and overseeing national sports bodies, covering the National Olympic Committee, the National Paralympic Committee, national sports federations and regional sports federations, and is drafted in consonance with the Olympic Charter, the Paralympic Charter and international best practice.
The Central Government appointed 1 January 2026 as the date on which select provisions of the Act came into force. The Act's stated objects are transparency, accountability, ethical practice and good governance in sports administration, the welfare of sportspersons, and timely resolution of sports disputes.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy instituted for the top-performing university in sport.
Arjuna Award instituted; first conferred the same year on six sportspersons.
Dronacharya Award instituted for coaches; first conferred on B.B. Bhagwat, Om Prakash Bhardwaj and O.M. Nambiar.
First Khel Ratna Award, then named after Rajiv Gandhi, conferred.
Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement instituted.
The Khel Ratna is renamed the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.
National Sports Governance Bill passed by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
President Droupadi Murmu assents to the National Sports Governance Act, 2025.
Select provisions of the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 come into force.
National Sports Awards 2025 announced — 17 Arjuna awardees, no Khel Ratna.
The Arjuna awardee won the FIDE Women's World Cup at Batumi, Georgia on 28 July 2025, beating Koneru Humpy in tiebreaks. The 19-year-old from Nagpur became the first Indian woman to win the event, India's 88th Grandmaster and the fourth Indian woman to hold the GM title, and qualified for the 2026 Candidates Tournament.
The awards sit at the top of a structure whose base is Khelo India (2018, mass participation and talent identification) and whose elite tier is the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (2014, revamped 2018). Questions often pair the award with the scheme that funded the athlete.
The National Sports Governance Act, 2025 does not decide awards, but it reshapes the federations that field the athletes — recognition by the National Sports Board is now the gateway to central funding, and disputes go to the National Sports Tribunal.
Para athletics, para-shooting and deaf shooting all appear in the 2025 Arjuna list, and the sole Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar went to the Army Paralympic Node, Pune — the same integration the 2025 Act reflects by covering the National Paralympic Committee alongside the National Olympic Committee.
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Statutory bodies and government policies; Prelims > Awards and Honours
General Awareness > Awards and Honours; Sports
General Awareness > Sports and Awards
General Awareness > Sports
National sports awards are announced annually and are a standing favourite of SSC, Railway and Banking general awareness papers; UPSC is likelier to test the statutory framework — the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 and its two new bodies.
India's highest sporting honour, instituted in 1992 with the first award for 1991-92 and renamed after the hockey player Major Dhyan Chand on 6 August 2021; cash prize Rs 25 lakh.
The category used to honour sportspersons who keep promoting sport after retiring from active competition; awarded in 2025 to footballer I. Arumainayagam.
The only national sports award given to organisations — corporate entities and NGOs — rather than to individuals, for a visible role in sports promotion.
The body created by the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 that recognises national sports bodies; only recognised bodies may receive central government funds.
The specialised forum created by the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 for sports disputes, including federation elections, athlete selection and governance matters.