Chief of the Naval Staff (India)

Chief of the Naval Staff (India)
Chief of the Naval Staff (India)
	Flag of the Chief of the Naval Staff
	File:Admiral R Hari Kumar, CNS.jpgIncumbent; Admiral R. Hari Kumar; PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC; since 30 November 2021
	Indian Navy
Type	Military branch chief
Abbreviation	CNS
Member of	National Security Council
Reports to	Prime Minister ; 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; 74 years ago
First holder	Vice-Admiral Edward Parry
Deputy	Vice Chief of the Naval Staff
Salary	₹250,000 (US$3,500) monthly

The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), also known as the Navy Chief, abbreviated to CNS, is a statutory position in the Indian Navy held by a four star admiral. As the highest ranking officer to serve solely in the Indian Navy, the chief is the professional head of the naval branch and the principal naval adviser to the Minister of Defence. The CNS, in a separate capacity, is also a member of the National Security Council and thereby an advisor to the president and the prime minister. The CNS is typically the most senior naval officer in the Indian Armed Forces, unless the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee is a naval officer.

The CNS heads the military staff of the Indian Navy and advises both the president of the Republic and the prime minister on naval affairs. The current CNS is Admiral R. Hari Kumar. The 25th Navy Chief, he took over from Karambir Singh, who retired on 30 November 2021 after four decades of service from the navy.^[3]

Office of the Chief of the Naval Staff[edit]

At Independence, the head of the Navy was designated the "Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy."^[4] On 21 June 1948, the title of "Chief of the Naval Staff" was added,^[5] 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".^[6] 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[edit]

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

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Ref
2		Hall, John Talbot SavignacRear Admiral John Talbot Savignac Hall Lua error: expandTemplate: template "post-nominals/UK" does not exist. (1896–1964)	15 August 1947	20 June 1948	310 days	^[7]^[8]

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

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)	21 June 1948	14 August 1948	54 days	^[7]^[9]
2		Parry, William EdwardVice Admiral Sir William Edward Parry Lua error: expandTemplate: template "post-nominals/UK" does not exist. (1893–1972)	14 August 1948	25 January 1950	1 year, 164 days	.

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

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. ^[10] (1893–1972)	26 January 1950	13 October 1951	1 year, 260 days
2		Pizey, Charles Thomas MarkAdmiral Sir 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)[edit]

No.	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Pizey, CharlesAdmiral 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		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		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		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^[11])	1 October 1993	30 September 1996	2 years, 365 days
15		Bhagwat, VishnuAdmiral Vishnu Bhagwat PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 1939^[12])	1 October 1996	30 December 1998	2 years, 90 days
16		Kumar, SushilAdmiral Sushil Kumar PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, NM, ADC (1940–2019^[13])	30 December 1998	29 December 2001	2 years, 364 days
17		Singh, MadhvendraAdmiral Madhvendra Singh PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 1942^[14])	29 December 2001	31 July 2004	2 years, 215 days
18		Prakash, ArunAdmiral Arun Prakash PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM, ADC (born 1944)	31 July 2004	31 October 2006	2 years, 215 days
19		Mehta, SureeshAdmiral Sureesh Mehta PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 1947)	31 October 2006	31 August 2009	2 years, 304 days
20		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
–		Dhowan, RobinVice Admiral Robin K. Dhowan PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC (born 1954) Acting	26 February 2014	17 April 2014	50 days
22		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) ^[15]	31 May 2019	30 November 2021	2 years, 183 days
25	R. Hari Kumar PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC	Admiral R. Hari Kumar PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC (born 1962) ^[3]	30 November 2021	Incumbent	2 years, 63 days

References[edit]

↑ "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.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 "Vice Admiral R Hari Kumar to be next chief of naval staff". Times of India. 9 November 2021.
↑ "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.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 "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.
↑ Service Chiefs of India, S.Sartaj Alam Abidi & Satinder Sharma P. 127
↑ Service Chiefs of India, S.Sartaj Alam Abidi & Satinder Sharma P. 131
↑ "Former Indian Navy chief Sushil Kumar dies".
↑ Service Chiefs of India, S.Sartaj Alam Abidi & Satinder Sharma P. 135
↑ "Vice Admiral Karambir Singh appointed next Navy Chief". The Hindu. 23 March 2019.

Template:Chief of the navy by country

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[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.

[rhari-cns-3] 3.0 ^3.1 "Vice Admiral R Hari Kumar to be next chief of naval staff". Times of India. 9 November 2021.

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

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

[india-cincact-6] "The Commanders-In-Chief (Change in Designation) Act, 1955". VakilNo1.com. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.

[unithistories-7] 7.0 ^7.1 "World War II unit histories & officers". unithistories.com.

[RIN_designation-8] "Press Note" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 10 February 1947. Retrieved 26 January 2020.

[communique-9] "Press Communique" (PDF). Press Information Bureau of India - Archive. 21 June 1948. Retrieved 21 July 2020.

[pib.gov.in-10] "Hon'ble President Shri Ram Nath Kovind to award the President's colour to Indian Naval Academy". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 8 March 2021.

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

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

[13] "Former Indian Navy chief Sushil Kumar dies".

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

[15] "Vice Admiral Karambir Singh appointed next Navy Chief". The Hindu. 23 March 2019.

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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