Amitav Ghosh was awarded the 54th Jnanpith award for his for his contribution to the enrichment of Indian literature in English.
He was conferred with award by the former governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who called him a 'craftsman' whose work comes from a 'sinews of effort no less than the strokes of inspiration'.
He was the first English writer to be honoured with the prestigious award.
The recipients of Jnanpith award are given a cash prize of Rs 11 lakh, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Goddess Saraswati.
He has earlier won the Sahitya Akademi Award for the 'Shadow Lines', 'The Glass Palace', 'The Hungry Tide', and the Ibis Trilogy - 'Sea of Poppies', 'River of Smoke', and 'Flood of Fire' - that chronicles the opium trade between India and China run by the then East India Company.
The new book of the author was "Gun Island".
He is also the recipient of Padma Shri in the year 2007.