New Delhi, Jan. 26 -- Ten persons from the world of business were named for India's top civilian honours ahead of Republic Day, going past more common fields such as public affairs and social work for the first time in three and 12 years, respectively. Last year, 'trade and industry' was the least-represented major field, with just three names.

This is only the fourth year in a decade that the share of businesspersons among all recipients crossed 5%, the others being 2016, 2020 and 2022. This share hit a peak of nearly 11% in 2010.

A total of 139 awardees were named by the government on Saturday, of whom 51 were from the field of art, 30 from literature, education and journalism, 10 each from medicine and business, and eight from social...