The sportsperson shall be honoured with Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for Excellence in sports and games at International level i.e., Olympic/Asia/Commonwealth/World Games/Championship/World Cup or any equivalent recognized international tournament.
The award will be made in respect of the calendar year for. There will be only one award every year to be given to an individual sportsperson. This condition will be relaxed only in exceptional circumstances viz., winning an Olympic Medal.
The award will be only for the individual players, who had excelled in performance and not for team events or a team. No award will be made for a second time to the same person. The award may be given posthumously.
Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna Award Facts
Description – It is the highest sporting honour of the Republic of India.
Awarded by – Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India
Cash Award – A medal a scroll of honour and a substantial cash amount of 7.5 lakh.
First Awardee – Vishwanathan Anand (1991-92)
Last Awardee – Virat Kohli (Cricket) and Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (Weightlifter) 2018
| Year | Recipient(s) | Discipline(s) |
| 1991–1992 | Viswanathan Anand | Chess |
| 1992–1993 | Geet Sethi | Billiards |
| 1993–1994 | Homi Motivala | Yachting (Team event) |
| 1993–1994 | Garg Pushpendra Kumar | Yachting (Team event) |
| 1994–1995 | Karnam Malleswari | Weightlifting |
| 1995–1996 | Nameirakpam Kunjarani | Weightlifting |
| 1996–1997 | Leander Paes | Tennis |
| 1997–1998 | Sachin Tendulkar | Cricket |
| 1998–1999 | Jyotirmoyee Sikdar | Athletics |
| 1999–2000 | Dhanraj Pillay | Hockey (Men) |
| 2000–2001 | Pullela Gopichand | Badminton |
| 2001 | Abhinav Bindra | Shooting |
| 2002 | K. M. Beenamol | Athletics |
| 2002 | Anjali Bhagwat | Shooting |
| 2003 | Anju Bobby George | Athletics |
| 2004 | Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore | Shooting |
| 2005 | Pankaj Advani | Billiards and Snooker |
| 2006 | Manavjit Singh Sandhu | Shooting |
| 2007 | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | Cricket |
| 2008 | No awar | |
| 2009 | Mary Kom | Boxing (Women) |
| 2009 | Vijender Singh | Boxing |
| 2009 | Sushil Kumar | Wrestling |
| 2010 | Saina Nehwal | Badminton |
| 2011 | Gagan Narang | Shooting |
| 2012 | Vijay Kumar | Shooting |
| 2012 | Yogeshwar Dutt | Wrestling |
| 2013 | Ronjan Sodhi | Shooting |
| 2014 | No award | |
| 2015 | Sania Mirza | Tennis |
| 2016 | P. V. Sindhu | Badminton |
| 2016 | Dipa Karmakar | Gymnastics |
| 2016 | Jitu Rai | Shooting |
| 2016 | Sakshi Malik | Wrestling |
| 2017 | Devendra Jhajharia | Paralympic athletics |
| 2017 | Sardara Singh | Hockey (Men) |
| 2018 | Saikhom Mirabai Chanu | Weightlifting |
| 2018 | Virat Kohli | Cricket |
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