After having received an honorary doctorate from Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom, Shilpa Shetty received the 'Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award' at a grand ceremony to be held on August 12, 2007, at National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai.
The event was attended by Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union ministers Sushil Kumar Shinde, Priyaranjan Dasmunshi and Murli Deora, AICC general secretary Margaret Alva, MPCC president Prabha Rau and MRCC president and MP Gurudas Kamat. Mumbai Congress vice-president Charan Singh Sapra was the convener of the event.
Actors Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani , Koena Mitra and Tanushree Dutta enthralled the audience with their live performances.
Presented by City Limouzines, this year marked the 10th Rajiv Gandhi Awards. Other recipients of the award this year included industrialist Tulsi Tanti, cricket legend Kapil Dev, astronaut Sunita Williams, Indian Express editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta, actor Salman Khan, educationist Padmashree Dr. D.Y.Patil, woman achiever Dr. Swati Piramal, global Indian Sir Gulam K. Noon, social service contributor Veerendra Heggade, young entrepreneur Kushagra Bajaj and child prodigy Pooja Bhangire.
The awards instituted in 1995, are given for outstanding achievement and contribution in diverse fields, including education, industries, journalism and entertainment.