Central Command (India)


The Central Command of the Indian Army is one of the seven operational commands of the army. It is based at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
Lt General Iqroop Singh Ghuman is the present General Officer Commanding-in-Chief.

History

Pre WW-II

Central Command was first established in 1942 during World War II and then disbanded in 1946.
Southern Command was responsible for most of the training activities for Indian Army until Central Command was formed in April 1942 which took over the responsibility of some of the training areas.

Post 1962 Indo-China war

With its HQ at Lucknow the Command was re-established on 1 May 1963 due to the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Lt Gen K Bahadur Singh was the first Army Commander of the new Central Command. Prior to that date Lucknow had been the headquarters of the Eastern Command.

Area and formations

Central Commands spans across seven state of India:
  1. Uttar Pradesh
  2. Uttarakhand
  3. Madhya Pradesh
  4. Chhattisgarh
  5. Bihar
  6. Jharkhand
  7. Odisha
There are two Static Area Foramations and one 6 Mountain Division under Central Command:
  1. Uttar Bharat Area headquartered at Bareilly
  2. Madhya Bharat Area headquartered at Jabalpur
  3. 6 Mountain Division at Bareilly
18 Regimental Centres and Large number of logistic and training establishments come under Central Command. The responsibility for the central sector of the Western border with Pakistan also lies with Central Command. Almost half of the 62 cantonments in India lie within the Central Command's theatre.

Rescue operations during 2013 North India floods

During 2013 North India floods in its rescue operations "Operation Surya Hope" in Uttarakhand, the Central Command mobilised over 8,000 troops for rescue and relief operations for stranded people on all four different axis of Rishikesh-Uttarkashi-Harsil-Gangotri axis, Rudraprayag-Kedarnath axis, Joshimath-Badrinath axis and Dharchula-Tawaghat axis in Pithoragarh district. Under operation Ganga, the Army evacuated 1,150 persons from Harsil area; 6,000 from Joshimath and 700 from Tawaghat area. Army operations in the 40,000 square kilometres were led by Lieutenant General Anil Chait, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Command.

Commanders prior to Independence

Commanders included:
RankNameAppointment DateLeft OfficeUnit of CommissionReferences
Lieutenant GeneralKanwar Bahadur SinghMay 1963August 196619th Hyderabad Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralJoginder Singh DhillonAugust 1966August 1970Bengal Sappers
Lieutenant GeneralP S BhagatAugust 1970Jun 1972Bombay Sappers
Lieutenant GeneralH K SibalJune 1972November 19735 Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralK K SinghNovember 1973March 197516th Light Cavalry
Lieutenant GeneralJ S NakaiApril 1975March 1979Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant GeneralR D HiraApril 1979June 198011 Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralWAG PintoJuly 1980June 1982Brigade of the Guards
Lieutenant GeneralH C DuttaJuly 1982November 19838 Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralBhupinder SinghDecember 1983September 1985Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant GeneralK K HazariOctober 1985January 1986Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant GeneralK B MehtaFebruary 1986December 1987Brigade of the Guards
Lieutenant GeneralSami KhanJanuary 1988March 19894 Madras
Lieutenant GeneralS F RodriguesApril 1989October 1989Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant GeneralF. N. BillimoriaNovember 1989June 19912/5 Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralVijai SinghJuly 1991February 19928th Light Cavalry
Lieutenant GeneralY N SharmaMarch 1992March 1994The Grenadiers
Lieutenant GeneralArun GautamApril 1994April 1995Armoured Corps
Lieutenant GeneralR K GulatiApril 1995May 19969th Deccan Horse
Lieutenant GeneralChandra SekharJune 1996September 19972/4 Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralSurjit SinghOctober 1997September 2000Dogra Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralP S JoshiOctober 2000September 20011/8 Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralD S ChauhanOctober 2001December 2003Madras Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralRam SubramanyamJanuary 2004December 2005Corps of Engineers
Lieutenant GeneralO P NandrajogJanuary 2006February 2008Brigade of the Guards
Lieutenant GeneralH S PanagMarch 2008December 2008Mechanised Infantry Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralJ K MohantyJanuary 2009February 2010Dogra Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralVijay Kumar AhluwaliaMarch 2010February 2012Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant GeneralAnil ChaitMarch 2012June 2013Armoured Corps
Lieutenant GeneralRajan BakhshiJuly 2013November 2015Poona Horse
Lieutenant GeneralBalwant Singh NegiDecember 201530 September 2018Assam Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralAbhay Krishna1 October 201830 September 2019Rajputana Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralIqroop Singh Ghuman1 October 2019IncumbentBrigade of The Guards