Gandhinagar: Among Gujaratis who have been conferred with Padma Awards for 2026 are Uday Kotak, Arvind Vaidya, Dharmiklal Pandya, Mir Hajibhai, Nilesh Mandlewala, Ratilal Borisagar, Alka Yagnik and Satish Shah(posthumous).

Mumbai born and Mumbai based Gujarati Uday Suresh Kotak is an Indian banker and founder of Kotak Mahindra Bank, where he is a non-executive director. Uday Kotak is conferred with Padma Vibhushan.

Kolkata born and Mumbai based Gujarati Alka Yagnik is an Indian playback singer who worked predominantly in Hindi cinema during early 80s to mid 2000s. She is conferred with Padma Bhushan.

Actor Arvind Vaidya is Gujarati actor and a director who is known for his performance in the plays Pappa Once More and Baa Bapuji Ni Twenty Twenty. He is also known for his work in the serials like Sarabhai V/S Sarabhai and some Bollywood movies. Arvind Vaidya is conferred with Padmashri.

Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya Gujarat Padma Shri awardee Single handedly revived the art of Manbhatt Akyan. A singing recital of an epic while playing a unique percussion instrument. He has performed thousands of Akyans innovated new Akyans on modern themes and set up a training institute Dharmiklal Chunilal Pandya.
Padma Bhushan to Uday Kotak

Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai is Dholak player who is fondly called Haji Ramakdu. He came into limelight after playing Dholak in Morari Bapu’s katha sessions. Hailing from Junagadh, Mir Hajibhai Kasambhai is being honoured with the Padma Shri for his significant contribution to the field of art. Popularly known among the masses as ‘Haji Ramakdu’, he is renowned for his unique style of playing the Dholak.His musical expertise spans across Bhajans, Santvani, Ghazals, and Qawwali. A dedicated artist, he has performed the Dholak in over 3,000 programs dedicated to cows and has completed more than 1,000 stage performances during his career.

Surat-based Nilesh Vinodchandra Mandlewala has been conferred with the Padma Shri for his extensive work in the social sector. He is recognized as a pioneer of the organ donation movement in Gujarat and is the founder of the ‘Donate Life’ organization. His journey began due to personal challenges; after his father suffered kidney failure in 1997 and required regular dialysis starting in 2004, Mandlewala witnessed the difficulties patients faced. Consequently, he launched a kidney donation service from Surat in 2006.

This campaign eventually expanded to include the donation of the liver, pancreas, heart, bones, lungs, small intestine, hands, and uterus. Through the relentless efforts of the Donate Life organization, over 1,300 organs and tissues have been donated to date.

Ratilal Mohanlal Borisagar is a Gujarati humourist, essayist and editor from Gujarat, India. Born and educated in Savarkundla, he received a PhD in 1989. After working for some years as a teacher, he joined the state school textbook board until his retirement in 1998.

Hailing from Gujarat, and settled in Mumbai, Satish Ravilal Shah was an Indian actor and comedian, best known for his iconic comic roles in films such as Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Main Hoon Na, Kal Ho Naa Ho, Fanaa, and Om Shanti Om and television series such as Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984), and Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (2004) for which he won the ITA Award for Best Actor in a Comic Role and the Indian Telly Award for Best Actor in a Comic Role.

Full list of Padma Awardees is here. DeshGujarat