Union Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal gave away the Arjuna Award to R. Ashwin.
The award includes a bronze statuette, a citation and Rs. 5 lakh.
Ashwin, 28, was the 48th cricketer to receive the prestigious award.
He emerged as a dependable bowler in all formats of the game, capturing 124 wickets (apart from scoring 1009 runs, including two hundreds) in 25 Tests, 139 scalps in 99 ODIs and 25 in 26 T20 Internationals.
Ashwin, who took 18 matches to complete 100 Test wickets, became the fastest Indian to reach the milestone in November 2013, edging past spin legend Erapalli Prasanna (20 Tests).
He is the fifth fastest bowler in Test history to bag 100 wickets.