Govt Announces Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar Honouring Scientific Excellence

India’s scientific community received a strong boost with the announcement of the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) 2025 list, celebrating 24 eminent scientists.

The list includes one research team for their transformative contributions across diverse disciplines.

Building on its inaugural edition, the RVP reflects the Union government’s vision of ‘Viksit Bharat through Vigyan’, a developed India driven by scientific innovation and technological progress.

At the top stands the Vigyan Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour in science and technology, instituted in 2023.

It was first conferred in 2024 upon Dr Govindarajan Padmanabhan, the renowned biochemist whose pioneering work on the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum advanced global strategies against drug resistance.

Honouring India’s Scientific Vision

The Vigyan Ratna is presented every year on National Space Day (August 23). Furthermore, it matches the prestige of the Bharat Ratna but honours only lifetime achievements in science.

Three additional award categories complement this highest honour.

Eight senior researchers received the Vigyan Shri for long-term impact in fields ranging from quantum materials to sustainable farming.

The government honoured fourteen young and mid-career innovators under 45 as Vigyan Yuva-Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awardees. It modernised the iconic Bhatnagar Prize to nurture India’s next generation of scientific pioneers.

The CSIR Aroma Mission received the Vigyan Team Award for transforming aromatic crop cultivation across 60,000 hectares.

Meanwhile, the initiative has empowered over 50,000 farmers in 26 states with high-yield lavender, lemongrass and rosemary varieties.

These have generated over ₹1,200 crore in rural income since 2017.

The 2025 cohort mirrors India’s expanding scientific footprint.

Among the Vigyan Shri winners are a climate scientist whose AI-based monsoon forecasts cut crop losses by 18% in Odisha.

Meanwhile, a materials researcher is developing biodegradable polymers from farm waste for medical use.

The Yuva awardees include a 38-year-old astrophysicist studying fast radio bursts at Pune’s Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and a 41-year-old biotechnologist creating salt-resistant rice now on field trials in Tamil Nadu.

Launched in 2023, the RVP unifies 16 previous science awards under one transparent system.

Overseen by a 300-member committee led by Principal Scientific Adviser Ajay Kumar Sood, it promotes peer-reviewed meritocracy.

The awards, comprising a sanad, citation, and panchdhatu medal, will be presented by President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on National Science Day, February 28, 2026.

As India aims for a $1 trillion research economy by 2047, the RVP celebrates past achievements while reaffirming science as the cornerstone of national progress.

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