Instituted by the Capital Foundation, the award was given away at a function here at which Supreme Court Judge Altamas Kabir was also present. Jindal, an MP, is the founding chancellor of the O.P. Jindal Global University at Sonepat in Haryana.
The Bhagwati Award was also given to Arun Mohan, a senior advocate in the Supreme Court, in recognition of his "outstanding contribution" to access to justice.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal and Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid were conferred the Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Award at the same ceremony.
In his speech, Kalam stressed the need to address poverty, lack of education, ill health and other such challenges in rural areas worldwide.