| | Name | Image | Birth / Death | Awarded | Notes |
1.
| Chakravarti Rajgopalachari
| 
| 1878–1972
| 1954
| Independence activist, last Governor-General
|
2.
| C. V. Raman
| 
| 1888–1970
| 1954
| Physicist
|
3.
| Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
| 
| 1888–1975
| 1954
| Philosopher, India's First Vice President (1952-1962), and India's Second President(1962-1967)
|
4.
| Bhagwan Das
| | 1869–1958
| 1955
| Independence activist, author, Founder of Kashi Vidya Peeth
|
5.
| Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya
| 
| 1861–1962
| 1955
| Civil engineer, Diwan of Mysore
|
6.
| Jawaharlal Nehru
| 
| 1889–1964
| 1955
| Independence activist, author, first Prime Minister
|
7.
| Govind Ballabh Pant
| | 1887–1961
| 1957
| Independence activist, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Home Minister
|
8.
| Dhondo Keshav Karve
| | 1858–1962
| 1958
| Educator, social reformer
|
9.
| Bidhan Chandra Roy
| 
| 1882–1962
| 1961
| Physician, Chief Minister of West Bengal
|
10.
| Purushottam Das Tandon
| | 1882–1962
| 1961
| Independence activist, educator
|
11.
| Rajendra Prasad
| 
| 1884–1963
| 1962
| Independence activist, jurist, first President
|
12.
| Zakir Hussain
| 
| 1897–1969
| 1963
| Independence activist, Scholar, third President
|
13.
| Pandurang Vaman Kane
| | 1880–1972
| 1963
| Indologist and Sanskrit scholar
|
14.
| Lal Bahadur Shastri
| 
| 1904–1966
| 1966
| Posthumous, independence activist, second Prime Minister
|
15.
| Indira Gandhi
| 
| O1917–1984
| 1971
| Third Prime Minister
|
16.
| V. V. Giri
| 
| 1894–1980
| 1975
| Trade unionist and fourth President
|
17.
| K. Kamaraj
| 
| 1903–1975
| 1976
| Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu State
|
18.
| Mother Teresa
| 
| 1910–1997
| 1980
| Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of Charity
|
19.
| Vinoba Bhave
| 
| 1895–1982
| 1983
| Posthumous, social reformer, independence activist
|
20.
| Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
| 
| 1890–1988
| 1987
| First non-citizen, independence activist
|
21.
| M. G. Ramachandran
| 
| 1917–1987
| 1988
| Posthumous, film actor, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
|
22.
| B. R. Ambedkar
| 
| 1891–1956
| 1990
| Posthumous, Chief architect of the Indian Constitution,Crusader against Untouchablity, Dalit Icon, Social Reformer, Historian, politician, economist, and scholar
|
23.
| Nelson Mandela
| 
| b. 1918
| 1990
| Second non-citizen and non-Indian recipient, Leader of the Anti-Apartheid movement
|
24.
| Rajiv Gandhi
| 
| 1944–1991
| 1991
| Posthumous, Sixth Prime Minister
|
25.
| Vallabhbhai Patel
| 
| 1875–1950
| 1991
| Posthumous, independence activist, first Home Minister
|
26.
| Morarji Desai
| 
| 1896–1995
| 1991
| Independence activist, fourth Prime Minister
|
27.
| Abul Kalam Azad
| 
| 1888–1958
| 1992
| Posthumous, independence activist, first Minister of Education
|
28.
| J. R. D. Tata
| | 1904–1993
| 1992
| Industrialist and philanthropist
|
29.
| Satyajit Ray
| 
| 1922–1992
| 1992
| Filmmaker
|
30.
| A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
| 
| b. 1931
| 1997
| Aeronautical Engineer,11th President of India
|
31.
| Gulzarilal Nanda
| | 1898–1998
| 1997
| Independence activist, interim Prime Minister
|
32.
| Aruna Asaf Ali
| | 1908–1996
| 1997
| Posthumous, independence activist
|
33.
| M. S. Subbulakshmi
| 
| 1916–2004
| 1998
| Carnatic classical singer
|
34.
| Chidambaram Subramaniam
| | 1910–2000
| 1998
| Independence activist, Minister of Agriculture
|
35.
| Jayaprakash Narayan
| | 1902–1979
| 1999
| Posthumous, independence activist and politician
|
36.
| Ravi Shankar
| 
| 1920–2012
| 1999
| Sitar player
|
37.
| Amartya Sen
| 
| b. 1933
| 1999
| Economist
|
38.
| Gopinath Bordoloi
| 
| 1890–1950
| 1999
| Posthumous, independence activist, Chief Minister of Assam
|
39.
| Lata Mangeshkar
| 
| b. 1929
| 2001
| Playback singer
|
40.
| Bismillah Khan
| 
| 1916–2006
| 2001
| Hindustani classical shehnai player
|
41.
| Bhimsen Joshi
| 
| 1922–2011
| 2008
| Hindustani classical singer
|
42.
| C. N. R. Rao[
| 
| b. 1934
| 2014
(announced)
| Scientist
|
43.
| Sachin Tendulkar
| 
| b. 1973
| 2014
(announced)
| Cricketer (FIRST IN SPORTS CATEGORY)
|
