Gadgil received the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award from the Government of India in 2006 and the H. K. Firodia award of the H. K. Firodia Foundation reached him a year later, in 2007. The Central University of Orissa honoured him with the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) in 2013 and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) recognised the contributions of the Western Ghats Ecology Experts Panel (WGEEP) and its chairman with the Georgescu-Roegen Award in 2014. The University of Southern California awarded him the John and Alice Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2015, which he shared with Jane Lubchenco, a Distinguished Professor of Oregon State University, making him the second Indian, after M. S. Swaminathan, to receive the Prize. He is also a recipient of the Vikram Sarabhai Award and Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar Award.