MUMBAI: Veteran composer Usha Khanna and popular playback singer Udit Narayan will be the recepients of the 2016 Mohammed Rafi Puraskar, to be given away on the iconic singer's birth anniversary on 24 December.

The names of the musicians to be honoured at the ninth edition of the awards were announced in Mumbai by BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar. Union information and broadcasting minister Venkaiah Naidu will present the awards on 24 December. Khanna, who was the Hindi film industry's first woman composer, will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The honour carries a cash prize of rupees one lakh and a citation. Previous recepients of the awards over the last eight years include Anandji, Asha Bhosle, Amit Kumar, Suresh Wadkar, Shamshad Begum, Ravi, Shailendra Singh, Naushad Ali, Pyarelal, Suman Kalyanpur, Anuradha Paudwal and Khayyam.