Vice Chief of the Army Staff (India)
The Vice Chief of the Army Staff is the second-highest ranking Officer in the Indian Army. The VCOAS is a PSO at Army Headquarters in New Delhi. The office is held by a senior officer in the rank of Lieutenant General. The current VCOAS is Lieutenant General Satinder Kumar Saini who assumed the office from 25 January 2020.
Order of Precedence
The VCOAS ranks at No. 23 on the Indian order of precedence, along with the Vice Chiefs of Staff of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force and the Army Commanders, Naval Commanders and Air Commanders. The VCOAS is at the Apex Pay grade, with a monthly pay of ₹225,000.Appointees
The following table chronicles the appointees to the office of the Vice Chief of the Army Staff.No. | Rank | Name | Appointment date | Left office | Regiment of Commission | Decorations | References |
1 | Lieutenant General | P. P. Kumaramangalam** | 15 January 1965 | 7 June 1966 | Regiment of Artillery | DSO | |
2 | Lieutenant General | Kashmir Singh Katoch | 8 June 1966 | 22 November 1970 | 13th Frontier Force Rifles | MC | |
3 | Lieutenant General | Har Prasad | 23 November 1970 | 31 October 1973 | Armoured Corps | PVSM | |
4 | Lieutenant General | M. L. Thapan | 1 November 1973 | 31 July 1974 | Jat Regiment | PVSM | |
5 | Lieutenant General | N C Rawlley | 1 August 1974 | 31 December 1975 | Brigade of the Guards | PVSM, AVSM, MC | |
6 | Lieutenant General | A. M. Vohra | 1 January 1976 | 19 January 1977 | 3 Gorkha Rifles | PVSM | |
7 | Lieutenant General | Om Prakash Malhotra** | 20 January 1977 | 31 May 1978 | Regiment of Artillery | PVSM | |
8 | Lieutenant General | S. L. Menezes | 1 July 1978 | 31 January 1980 | The Grenadiers | PVSM, SC | |
9 | Lieutenant General | Jaswant Singh | 1 February 1980 | 6 July 1980 | Punjab Regiment | PVSM, AVSM | |
10 | Lieutenant General | Adi M. Sethna | 7 July 1980 | 31 December 1982 | Rajputana Rifles | PVSM, AVSM | |
11 | Lieutenant General | Srinivas Kumar Sinha | 1 January 1983 | 1 June 1983 | 5 Gorkha Rifles | PVSM | |
12 | Lieutenant General | G. S. Rawat | 5 August 1983 | 31 December 1984 | Kumaon Regiment | PVSM, AVSM | |
13 | Lieutenant General | Krishnaswamy Sundarji** | 13 February 1985 | 31 January 1986 | Mahar Regiment | PVSM | |
14 | Lieutenant General | K. K. Hazari | 1 February 1986 | 31 May 1987 | Regiment of Artillery | PVSM, AVSM | |
15 | Lieutenant General | J. K. Puri | 1 June 1987 | 31 August 1987 | Regiment of Artillery | PVSM, AVSM | |
16 | Lieutenant General | Sunith Francis Rodrigues** | 1 November 1987 | 20 April 1989 | Regiment of Artillery | PVSM, VSM | |
17 | Lieutenant General | V. K. Sood | 15 May 1989 | 29 February 1992 | Dogra Regiment | PVSM, AVSM | |
18 | Lieutenant General | Vijai Singh | 1 March 1992 | 30 June 1993 | 8th Light Cavalry | PVSM | |
19 | Lieutenant General | Surinder Nath | 1 July 1993 | 30 June 1995 | Regiment of Artillery | PVSM, AVSM | |
20 | Lieutenant General | M. L. Dar | 1 July 1995 | 31 July 1996 | Poona Horse | PVSM, AVSM | |
21 | Lieutenant General | Ved Prakash Malik** | 1 August 1996 | 30 September 1997 | Sikh Light Infantry | PVSM, AVSM | |
22 | Lieutenant General | Chandra Shekhar | 1 October 1997 | 30 September 2000 | 4 Gorkha Rifles | PVSM, AVSM, ADC | |
23 | Lieutenant General | Vijay Oberoi | 1 October 2000 | 30 September 2001 | Maratha Light Infantry | PVSM, AVSM, VSM | |
24 | Lieutenant General | Nirmal Chander Vij** | 1 October 2001 | 31 December 2002 | Dogra Regiment | PVSM, UYSM, AVSM | |
25 | Lieutenant General | Shantonu Choudhry | 1 January 2003 | 31 December 2004 | Regiment of Artillery | PVSM, AVSM, VSM | |
26 | Lieutenant General | Bhupender Singh Thakur | 15 January 2005 | 30 September 2005 | Central India Horse | PVSM, AVSM | |
27 | Lieutenant General | S. Pattabhiraman | 1 October 2005 | 31 December 2006 | Bombay Sappers | PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM | |
28 | Lieutenant General | Deepak Kapoor** | 1 January 2007 | 30 September 2007 | Regiment of Artillery | PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC | |
29 | Lieutenant General | Milan Lalitkumar Naidu | 1 October 2007 | 31 December 2008 | Rajput Regiment | PVSM, AVSM, YSM | |
30 | Lieutenant General | Noble Thamburaj | 1 January 2008 | 30 September 2009 | Bombay Sappers | PVSM, SM | |
31 | Lieutenant General | Prabodh Chandra Bhardwaj | 1 October 2009 | 30 November 2010 | 1 Parachute Regiment | PVSM, AVSM, VrC, SC, VSM | |
32 | Lieutenant General | Avtar Singh Lamba | 6 December 2010 | 30 September 2011 | Regiment of Artillery | PVSM, AVSM | |
33 | Lieutenant General | Shri Krishna Singh | 1 October 2011 | 31 December 2013 | 8 Gorkha Rifles | PVSM, UYSM, AVSM | |
34 | Lieutenant General | Dalbir Singh Suhag** | 1 January 2014 | 31 July 2014 | 5 Gorkha Rifles | PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC | |
35 | Lieutenant General | Philip Campose | 1 August 2014 | 31 July 2015 | Mechanized Infantry | PVSM, AVSM & Bar, VSM | |
36 | Lieutenant General | Man Mohan Singh Rai | 1 August 2015 | 31 July 2016 | Bombay Sappers | PVSM, AVSM, VSM | |
37 | Lieutenant General | Bipin Rawat** | 1 September 2016 | 31 December 2016 | 5/11 Gorkha Rifles | UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM, ADC | |
38 | Lieutenant General | Sarath Chand | 13 January 2017 | 31 May 2018 | Garhwal Rifles | PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM | |
39 | Lieutenant General | Devraj Anbu | 1 June 2018 | 31 August 2019 | 14 Sikh Light Infantry | PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, ADC | |
40 | Lieutenant General | Manoj Mukund Naravane** | 1 September 2019 | 30 December 2019 | 7 Sikh Light Infantry | PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC | |
41 | Lieutenant General | Satinder Kumar Saini | 25 January 2020 | Incumbent | 7 Jat Regiment | PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VSM, ADC |