National Sports Awards 2025 Announced by Sports Ministry

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced the National Sports Awards 2025 to recognise and reward excellence in sports. The awards are conferred annually by the President of India at Rashtrapati Bhavan. For 2025, the selection committee recommended 17 athletes for the Arjuna Award, five coaches for the Dronacharya Award, and one organisation for the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar.

Overview of National Sports Awards

The National Sports Awards represent the highest sporting honours in India. They are administered by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. A dedicated selection committee headed by a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge evaluates nominations based on international achievements over a four-year cycle.

Award Categories and Objectives

• Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award: The country’s highest sporting honour, awarded for spectacular and outstanding performance over four years.

• Arjuna Award: Conferred for consistent good performance, leadership, sportsmanship, and discipline over a four-year period.

• Arjuna Award (Lifetime): Recognises retired athletes who brought honours during their active careers and continue to promote sports.

• Dronacharya Award: Honours coaches for producing medal-winning athletes and teams at international competitions.

• Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar: Recognises corporate entities, sports control boards, and NGOs for sports promotion and talent identification.

• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy: Awarded to the top-performing university in inter-university tournaments.

Highlights of the 2025 Edition

No athlete was chosen for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for 2025. This marks the first instance since 2014 where the top honour remained unawarded.

Decathlete Tejaswin Shankar, women’s doubles badminton pair Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand, and boxer Narender Berwal headline the list of 17 Arjuna Award recipients. The Lifetime Arjuna Award was conferred upon veteran footballer I Arumainayagam, a gold medalist from the 1962 Asian Games.

Arjuna Award 2025 Recipients

Arjuna Award (Lifetime Category)

Dronacharya Award 2025 Winners

The Dronacharya Award honours coaches across two classifications: Regular and Lifetime.

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025

The Army Paralympic Node, Pune received the Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar 2025. The node operates under the Indian Army to identify, train, and support para-athletes for international multi-sport competitions.

Key Exam Facts and Trivia

• National Sports Day is celebrated every year on August 29 to mark the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand.

• The Khel Ratna award was instituted in 1991–92, with Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand being its first recipient.

• In August 2021, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award was officially renamed as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award.

• The Arjuna Award was introduced in 1961 and carries a bronze statuette of Arjuna, a certificate, and cash prize.

• The Dronacharya Award was instituted in 1985 to honour coaching excellence; wrestling coach Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat, boxing coach Om Prakash Bhardwaj, and athletics coach O. M. Nambiar were among its inaugural winners.

• The MAKA Trophy was instituted in 1956–57 as a running trophy awarded to universities with the best all-round sports record.

• The cash prize structure stands at ₹25 lakh for Khel Ratna, ₹15 lakh for Arjuna Award, ₹15 lakh for Dronacharya (Lifetime), and ₹10 lakh for Dronacharya (Regular).