Chief of the Naval Staff (India)

Chief of Naval Staff
Chief of Naval Staff
	Flag of the Chief of the Naval Staff
	Incumbent; Admiral Karambir Singh, PVSM, AVSM, ADC; since 31 May 2019
	Error creating thumbnail: File missing Indian Navy
Abbreviation	CNS
Member of	National Security Council
Reports to	Prime Minister ; Error creating thumbnail: File missing Minister of Defence; Chief of Defence Staff
Seat	Central Secretariat
Appointer	Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)
Term length	3 years or at the age of 62, whichever is earlier.
Constituting instrument	Navy Act, 1957 (Act No. 62 of 1957)
Precursor	Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy
Formation	26 January 1950; 76 years ago
First holder	Rear Admiral John Talbot Savignac Hall
Deputy	Vice Chief of the Naval Staff
Salary	₹250,000 (US$3,500) monthly

The Chief of the Naval Staff is the head of the military staff of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff is the highest ranking naval officer on active service of the Indian Armed Forces unless the Chief of Defence is a navy officer. The Chief of Naval Staff is the primary adviser to the Government of India on naval affairs. The Chief is responsible for governing and directing the naval staff, the supreme decision making body consisting of the highest ranking naval officers of the Indian Navy, who is the navy's chief executive and the chief naval advisor to the Chief of Defence Staff. The position is abbreviated CNS in Indian Navy cables and communication, and is always held by a full Admiral since 1966. The Chief of the Naval Staff is assisted by the Vice Chief of the navy staff.

The current CNS is Admiral Karambir Singh. The 24th Navy Chief, he took over from Admiral Sunil Lanba, who retired on 31 May 2019 after four decades of service from the navy.^[3]^[4]

Office of the Chief of the Naval Staff

At Independence, the head of the Navy was designated the "Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy."^[5] On 21 June 1948, the title of "Chief of the Naval Staff" was added,^[6] with a re-designation to "Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy".

The "Royal" designation was dropped when India became a republic on 26 January 1950. Thus re-designating the head of Indian Navy to "Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy".

The "Commanders-In-Chief (Change in Designation) Act, 1955" re-designated the head of Indian Navy to "Chief of Naval Staff".^[7] The post was held by a three-star rank Vice Admiral until 1968, when it was upgraded to the four-star rank of a full Admiral.

Appointments to the office are made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). The Chief of the Naval Staff generally reaches superannuation upon serving three years or at the age of 62, whichever is earlier.

Appointees

The following tables chronicle the appointees to the office of the Chief of the Naval Staff and it's preceding positions since the independence of India.

Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy (1947–1948)

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref
1		Hall, John Talbot SavignacRear Admiral John Talbot Savignac Hall Lua error: expandTemplate: template "post-nominals/UK" does not exist. (1896–1964)	15 August 1947	29 February 1948	198 days	^[8]^[9]

Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy (1948–1950)

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref
1		Hall, John Talbot SavignacRear-Admiral John Talbot Savignac Hall Lua error: expandTemplate: template "post-nominals/UK" does not exist. (1896–1964)	1 March 1948	14 August 1948	166 days	^[8]^[10]
2		Parry, William EdwardVice-Admiral William Edward Parry (1893–1972)	14 August 1948	25 January 1950	1 year, 164 days	^[11]

Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy (1950–1955)

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Parry, William EdwardVice-Admiral Sir William Edward Parry Lua error: expandTemplate: template "post-nominals/UK" does not exist. ^[12] (1893–1972)	26 January 1950	13 October 1951	1 year, 260 days
2		Pizey, Charles Thomas MarkVice-Admiral Charles Thomas Mark Pizey Lua error: expandTemplate: template "post-nominals/UK" does not exist. (1899–1993)	13 October 1951	31 March 1955	3 years, 169 days

Chief of the Naval Staff (1955–present)

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Pizey, CharlesVice-Admiral Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey Lua error: expandTemplate: template "post-nominals/UK" does not exist. (1899–1993)	1 April 1955	21 July 1955	111 days
2		Carlill, Stephen HopeVice-Admiral Sir Stephen Hope Carlill Lua error: expandTemplate: template "post-nominals/UK" does not exist. (1902–1996)	21 July 1955	21 April 1958	2 years, 274 days
3		Katari, Ram DassVice-Admiral Ram Dass Katari (1911–1983)	22 April 1958	4 June 1962	4 years, 43 days
4		Soman, Bhaskar SadashivVice-Admiral Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman (1913–1995)	4 June 1962	3 March 1966	3 years, 272 days
5		Chatterji, Adhar KumarAdmiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji (1914–2001)	3 March 1966	28 February 1970	3 years, 362 days
6	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	Nanda, Sardarilal MathradasAdmiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda PVSM, AVSM (1915–2009)	28 February 1970	28 February 1973	3 years, 0 days
7		Kohli, Sourendra NathAdmiral Sourendra Nath Kohli PVSM (1916–1997)	1 March 1973	29 February 1976	2 years, 365 days
8		Cursetji, JalAdmiral Jal Cursetji PVSM (1919–1991)	1 March 1976	1 March 1979	3 years, 0 days
9		Pereira, Ronald LynsdaleAdmiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira PVSM, AVSM (1923–1993)	1 March 1979	28 February 1982	2 years, 364 days
10	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	Dawson, Oscar StanleyAdmiral Oscar Stanley Dawson PVSM, AVSM, ADC (1923–2011)	1 March 1982	30 November 1984	2 years, 274 days
11		Tahiliani, Radhakrishna HariramAdmiral Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani PVSM, AVSM (1930–2015)	1 December 1984	30 November 1987	2 years, 364 days
12	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	Nadkarni, Jayant GanpatAdmiral Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni PVSM, AVSM, NM, VSM, ADC (1931–2018)	1 December 1987	30 November 1990	2 years, 364 days
13		Ramdas, LaxminarayanAdmiral Laxminarayan Ramdas PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM, ADC (born 1933)	1 December 1990	30 September 1993	2 years, 303 days
14		Shekhawat, Vijai SinghAdmiral Vijai Singh Shekhawat PVSM, AVSM, VrC, ADC (born 1937^[13])	1 October 1993	30 September 1996	2 years, 365 days
15		Bhagwat, VishnuAdmiral Vishnu Bhagwat PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 1939^[14])	1 October 1996	30 December 1998	2 years, 90 days
16		Kumar, SushilAdmiral Sushil Kumar PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, NM, ADC (1940–2019^[15])	30 December 1998	29 December 2001	2 years, 364 days
17		Singh, MadhvendraAdmiral Madhvendra Singh PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 1942^[16])	29 December 2001	31 July 2004	2 years, 215 days
18	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	Prakash, ArunAdmiral Arun Prakash PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM, ADC (born 1944)	31 July 2004	31 October 2006	2 years, 215 days
19	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	Mehta, SureeshAdmiral Sureesh Mehta PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 1947)	31 October 2006	31 August 2009	2 years, 304 days
20	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	Verma, Nirmal KumarAdmiral Nirmal Kumar Verma PVSM, AVSM (born 1951)	31 August 2009	31 August 2012	3 years, 0 days
21		Joshi, Devendra KumarAdmiral Devendra Kumar Joshi PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM, ADC (born 1954)	31 August 2012	26 February 2014	1 year, 179 days
–	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	Dhowan, RobinVice Admiral Robin K. Dhowan PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC (born 1954) Acting	26 February 2014	17 April 2014	50 days
22	Error creating thumbnail: File missing	Dhowan, RobinAdmiral Robin K. Dhowan PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC (born 1954)	17 April 2014	31 May 2016	2 years, 44 days
23		Lanba, SunilAdmiral Sunil Lanba PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 1957)	31 May 2016	31 May 2019	3 years, 0 days
24		Admiral Karambir Singh PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 1959) ^[17]	31 May 2019	Incumbent	7 years, 79 days

References

↑ "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
↑ Biswas, Shreya, ed. (29 June 2016). "7th Pay Commission cleared: What is the Pay Commission? How does it affect salaries?". India Today. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
↑ "Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC assumes command of Indian Navy". pib.nic.in. Government of India. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
↑ "Admiral Sunil Lanba takes over as Chief of Naval Staff - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
↑ "Press Note" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 10 February 1947. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
↑ "Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 June 1948. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
↑ "The Commanders-In-Chief (Change in Designation) Act, 1955". VakilNo1.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 "World War II unit histories & officers". unithistories.com.
↑ "Press Note" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 10 February 1947. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
↑ "Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 June 1948. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
↑ "Hon'ble President Shri Ram Nath Kovind to award the President's colour to Indian Naval Academy". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
↑ "Hon'ble President Shri Ram Nath Kovind to award the President's colour to Indian Naval Academy". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
↑ Service Chiefs of India, S.Sartaj Alam Abidi & Satinder Sharma P. 127
↑ Service Chiefs of India, S.Sartaj Alam Abidi & Satinder Sharma P. 131
↑ https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/former-indian-navy-chief-sushil-kumar-dies-1622954-2019-11-27
↑ Service Chiefs of India, S.Sartaj Alam Abidi & Satinder Sharma P. 135
↑ https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/vice-admiral-karambir-singh-appointed-next-navy-chief/article26618416.ece

Template:Chief of the navy by country

[7_Pay_Commission_Report-1] "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2017.

[:India_Today_7CPC-2] Biswas, Shreya, ed. (29 June 2016). "7th Pay Commission cleared: What is the Pay Commission? How does it affect salaries?". India Today. Retrieved 24 September 2017.

[Admiral_Sunil_Lanba,_PVSM,_AVSM,_ADC_assumes_command_of_Indian_Navy-3] "Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC assumes command of Indian Navy". pib.nic.in. Government of India. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.

[Admiral_Sunil_Lanba_takes_over_as_Chief_of_Naval_Staff_-_The_Economic_Times-4] "Admiral Sunil Lanba takes over as Chief of Naval Staff - The Economic Times". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.

[5] "Press Note" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 10 February 1947. Retrieved 16 February 2020.

[6] "Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 June 1948. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

[india-cincact-7] "The Commanders-In-Chief (Change in Designation) Act, 1955". VakilNo1.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.

[unithistories-8] 8.0 ^8.1 "World War II unit histories & officers". unithistories.com.

[RIN_designation-9] "Press Note" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 10 February 1947. Retrieved 26 January 2020.

[communique-10] "Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 June 1948. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

[11] "Hon'ble President Shri Ram Nath Kovind to award the President's colour to Indian Naval Academy". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 8 March 2021.

[12] "Hon'ble President Shri Ram Nath Kovind to award the President's colour to Indian Naval Academy". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 8 March 2021.

[13] Service Chiefs of India, S.Sartaj Alam Abidi & Satinder Sharma P. 127

[14] Service Chiefs of India, S.Sartaj Alam Abidi & Satinder Sharma P. 131

[15] ttps://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/former-indian-navy-chief-sushil-kumar-dies-1622954-2019-11-27

[16] Service Chiefs of India, S.Sartaj Alam Abidi & Satinder Sharma P. 135

[17] ttps://www.thehindu.com/news/national/vice-admiral-karambir-singh-appointed-next-navy-chief/article26618416.ece

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v t e Chief of the Naval Staff
Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy (1950-1955)	Edward Parry Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey
Chief of the Naval Staff (1955–present)	Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey Sir Stephen Hope Carlill Ram Dass Katari Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman Adhar Kumar Chatterji Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda Sourendra Nath Kohli Jal Cursetji Ronald Lynsdale Pereira Oscar Stanley Dawson Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni Laxminarayan Ramdas Vijai Singh Shekhawat Vishnu Bhagwat Sushil Kumar Madhvendra Singh Arun Prakash Sureesh Mehta Nirmal Kumar Verma Devendra Kumar Joshi Robin K. Dhowan Sunil Lanba Karambir Singh (incumbent)
**Seconded from the Royal Navy