Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (India)

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Vice Chief of the Naval Staff
Flag of the Vice Admiral
 Indian Navy
TypePrincipal Staff Officer
StatusVice Chief
AbbreviationVCNS
Reports toChief of the Naval Staff
SeatNaval Headquarters, New Delhi
Formation11 May 1967
First holderSourendra Nath Kohli

The Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS) is a statutory position in the Indian Armed Forces, that is usually held by a three star vice admiral. The Vice Chief is the deputy of the Chief of the Naval Staff and is usually the second highest ranking officer of the Indian Navy. The current VCNS is Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan who took over from Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan on 1 August 2025.

History[edit | edit source]

At the time of independence of India on 15 August 1947, the Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy was the de facto Second-in-command. The appointment was held by an officer of the rank of Commodore. In 1949, the Chief of Staff was also made Deputy Commander-in-Chief RIN.[1] In 1955, the post was re-designated Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.[2] In 1959, the post was upgraded to Two-star rank.[3]

On 11 May 1967, the office was re-designated to Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, in line with the Indian Army and Indian Air Force. It was first held by Sourendra Nath Kohli. The appointment was then in the two-star rank of rear admiral.[4] On 12 December 1967, Nilakanta Krishnan succeeded Kohli as VCNS, with the office being raised to the three-star rank of Vice-Admiral in March 1969.[5]

Organisation[edit | edit source]

The VCNS heads the Staff Branch-I at the Naval Headquarters. The following Directors General/Controllers/Assistant Principal Staff Officers report into the VCNS.[6]

Order of precedence[edit | edit source]

The VCNS ranks at No. 23 on the Indian order of precedence, along with the Vice Chiefs of Staff of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force and the Army Commanders (GOC-in-C), Naval Commanders (FOC-in-C) and Air Commanders (AOC-in-C).[7] The VCNS is at the Apex Pay grade (Grade 17), with a monthly pay of ₹225,000 (US$3,200).[8]

Appointees[edit | edit source]

The following table chronicles the appointees to the office of the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.

S.No. Photo Name Assumed office Left office Notes
1 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Rear Admiral Sourendra Nath Kohli 11 May 1967 11 December 1967 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[4]
2 Vice Admiral Nilakanta Krishnan PVSM, DSC 12 December 1967 [n 1] 20 February 1970 Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[9][10]
3 Vice Admiral Jal Cursetji PVSM 20 February 1970 26 February 1973 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[11]
4 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral V. A. Kamath PVSM 31 March 1973 31 March 1977 Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.[12]
5 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira AVSM 5 April 1977 28 February 1979 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[13]
6 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Swaraj Parkash PVSM, MVC, AVSM 1 March 1979 31 March 1980 Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.[14]
7 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral M. R. Schunker PVSM, AVSM 1 April 1980 1 March 1982 Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.[15]
8 Vice Admiral Sardari Lal Sethi AVSM, NM 1 March 1982 30 May 1983 [16][17]
9 Vice Admiral Subimal Mookerjee AVSM 31 May 1983 29 April 1984 [18]
10 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani PVSM, AVSM 2 May 1984 27 November 1984 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[19]
11 Vice Admiral K. K. Nayyar PVSM, AVSM 28 November 1984 28 February 1986 [20]
12 Vice Admiral Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni
PVSM, AVSM, NM, VSM 		28 February 1986 30 November 1987 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[21][22]
13 Vice Admiral Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani
PVSM, AVSM, NM 		8 December 1987 28 February 1989 [23]
14 Vice Admiral S. C. Chopra PVSM, AVSM, NM 28 February 1989 30 June 1990 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[24]
15 Vice Admiral H. Johnson PVSM, VSM 30 June 1990 31 December 1990 [25][26]
16 Vice Admiral Suren P. Govil PVSM, AVSM 31 December 1990 31 October 1992 [27]
17 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Vijai Singh Shekhawat
PVSM, AVSM, VrC 		31 October 1992 30 September 1993 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[28]
18 Vice Admiral S. K. Chand PVSM, AVSM 15 October 1993 30 November 1995 [29]
19 Vice Admiral Kailash K. Kohli AVSM 30 November 1995 19 October 1996 Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.[30]
20 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Sushil Kumar PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, NM 19 October 1996 31 March 1998 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[31]
21 Vice Admiral P. J. Jacob AVSM, VSM 31 March 1998 28 February 2001 [32]
22 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh PVSM, AVSM 1 March 2001 1 January 2002 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[32]
23 Vice Admiral John Colin De Silva PVSM, AVSM 1 January 2002 30 September 2003 [33]
24 Vice Admiral Arun Prakash PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM 17 October 2003 30 July 2004 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[34]
25 Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad PVSM, AVSM, VSM 30 July 2004 31 October 2005 [35]
26 Vice Admiral Venkat Bharathan PVSM, AVSM, VSM 31 October 2005 30 November 2006 [36]
27 Vice Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma PVSM, AVSM 30 November 2006 1 April 2008 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[37]
28 Vice Admiral R. P. Suthan 30 April 2008 30 July 2009 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[38]
29 Vice Admiral D. K. Dewan 1 September 2009 30 August 2011 [39]
30 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Robin K. Dhowan PVSM, AVSM, YSM 31 August 2011 16 April 2014 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[40][41]
31 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba PVSM, AVSM 2 June 2014 30 March 2015 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[42][43]
32 Vice Admiral Parasurama Naidu Murugesan AVSM, VSM 31 March 2015 30 May 2016 [44][45]
33 Vice Admiral Karambir Singh PVSM, AVSM 31 May 2016 30 October 2017 Later Chief of the Naval Staff.[46]
34 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P PVSM, AVSM, VSM 30 October 2017 30 January 2019 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[47]
35 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral G. Ashok Kumar PVSM, AVSM, VSM 30 January 2019 31 July 2021 [48]
36 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Satish Namdeo Ghormade
PVSM, AVSM, NM, ADC 		31 July 2021 31 March 2023 [49]
37 Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh AVSM, NM 1 April 2023 31 December 2023 Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command[50]
38 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi AVSM, NM 4 January 2024 30 April 2024 Present Chief of the Naval Staff.[51]
39 Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan AVSM, VSM 1 May 2024 31 July 2025 Current Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[52]
40 Error creating thumbnail: File missing Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan AVSM, NM 1 August 2025 Present [53]

See also[edit | edit source]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Appointed as rear admiral, appointment raised to the rank of vice-admiral 26 March 1969.[5]

** Went on to become Chief of the Naval Staff.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "NHQ REORGANISATION" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in. 3 February 1949.
  2. ↑ Nanda, S M (October 2015). The man who bombed Karachi : a memoir. HarperCollins Publishers India. p. 113. ISBN 978-8172235628.
  3. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 23 May 1959. p. 124.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Admiral Kohli First Naval Vice-Chief" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 11 May 1967. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Rear Admiral Krishnan Promoted Vice-Admiral" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 27 March 1969. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  6. ↑ "Staff Branch-I | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in.
  7. ↑ "President's Secretariat" (PDF). Office of the President of India. Rajya Sabha. 26 August 1979. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  8. ↑ "Report of the 7th Central Pay committee" (PDF). 20 November 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "New Naval Appointments" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 20 February 1970. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  10. ↑ "Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Navy Branch)". The Gazette of India. 3 May 1969. p. 440.
  11. ↑ "Admiral Cursetji to Head Western Naval Command" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 14 February 1973. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  12. ↑ "Admiral Kamath to be Naval Vice Chief" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 March 1973. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  13. ↑ "Admiral Pereira Takes Over as Vice Chief of Naval Staff" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 5 April 1977. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  14. ↑ "Vice Admiral Swaraj Parkash To Take Over as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 22 February 1979. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  15. ↑ "Vice Admiral Schunker Takes Over as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 1 April 1980. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  16. ↑ "Admiral Sethi Appointed Vice Chief of Naval Staff" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 25 February 1982. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  17. ↑ "Senior Naval Appointments From March 1, 1982" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 4 February 1982. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  18. ↑ "Admiral Mookerjee Appointed Vice Chief of Naval Staff" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 30 May 1983. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  19. ↑ "Vice Admiral Tahiliani New Vice Chief of Naval Staff" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 1 May 1984. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  20. ↑ "Vice Admiral Nayyar New Vice Chief of Naval Staff" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 27 November 1984. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  21. ↑ "Vice Admiral Nadkarni New Vice Chief of Navy" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 27 February 1986. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  22. ↑ "Admiral Nadkarni to Take Over as New Naval Chief" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 29 November 1987. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  23. ↑ "Vice Chief of Navy Takes Over" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 8 December 1987. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  24. ↑ "New Vice Chief Takes Over" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 28 February 1989. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  25. ↑ "New Vice Chief For Navy" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 13 June 1990. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  26. ↑ "New Vice Chief, Flag Officer Commanders-in-Chief and Deputy Chief For Indian Navy" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 28 December 1990. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  27. ↑ "Vice Admiral Govil Retires" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 30 October 1992. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  28. ↑ "Change of Guard at Naval Headquarters" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 31 October 1992. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  29. ↑ "Vice Admiral SK Chand PVSM AVSM ADC - Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Retires Today" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 30 November 1995. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  30. ↑ "Admiral Kohli Appointed As New Vice Chief of Indian Navy" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 23 November 1995. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  31. ↑ "Navy Vice Chief Appointed" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 19 October 1996. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Major shake up in naval command structure". Rediff.com. 1 March 2001. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  33. ↑ "VICE ADMIRAL JOHN C DESILVA, PVSM, AVSM, ADC VICE CHIEF OF THE NAVAL STAFF RETIRES". pibarchive.nic.in.
  34. ↑ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  35. ↑ Competition Science Vision. Agra: Pratiyogita Darpan. 2004. p. 854.
  36. ↑ "Senior Naval Appointments Announced". Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 23 August 2005. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  37. ↑ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  38. ↑ "New Vice Admiral R P Suthan".
  39. ↑ "Vice Admiral Dewan takes over a Vice Chief of Naval Staff | Brahmand News". brahmand.com. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  40. ↑ "Vice Admiral Sunil Lamba may be the next navy Vice-chief". Deccan Chronicle. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  41. ↑ "Vice Admiral Dhowan To Take Over As Vice Chief Of Navy". Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  42. ↑ "Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba appointed new Vice Chief of Naval Staff". Firstpost. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  43. ↑ "Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba takes over as VCNS | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  44. ↑ "Indian Navy aspires to achieve 90% self-reliance in production of warships, says Vice Admiral Murugesan | Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dna. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  45. ↑ "Press Information Bureau". Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  46. ↑ "Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, AVSM assumes charge as Vice Chief of Naval Staff | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  47. ↑ "Press Information Bureau". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  48. ↑ "Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar assumes charge as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff". Zee News. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  49. ↑ "SUPERANNUATION OF VICE ADMIRAL SN GHORMADE, VICE CHIEF OF NAVAL STAFF". Sea and Coast. 31 March 2023.
  50. ↑ "VICE ADMIRAL SANJAY J SINGH TAKES OVER AS FLAG OFFICER COMMANDING-IN-CHIEF, WESTERN NAVAL COMMAND". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  51. ↑ Gaurav, Kunal (5 December 2023). "Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi to become India's new Vice Chief of Navy Staff".
  52. ↑ "VICE ADMIRAL KRISHNA SWAMINATHAN, AVSM, VSM ASSUMED CHARGE AS VICE CHIEF OF THE NAVAL STAFF". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  53. ↑ "HQ IDS". x.com. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
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