Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (India)


The Vice Chief of the Naval Staff is the second-highest ranking Officer in the Indian Navy. The VCNS is a PSO at Naval Headquarters in New Delhi. The office is held by a Three Star Officer in the rank of Vice Admiral. He is responsible for operation of naval related tasks. The current VCNS is Vice Admiral G. Ashok Kumar who took over from Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar on 30 January 2019.

History

Established on 11 May 1967, the office was first held by Sourendra Nath Kohli, subsequently appointed CNS. The appointment was then in the two-star rank of rear admiral. 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.

Organisation

The VCNS heads the Staff Branch-I at the Naval Headquarters. The following Directors General/Controllers/Assistant Principal Staff Officers report into the VCNS.
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, Naval Commanders and Air Commanders. The VCNS 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 Naval Staff.
NoRankNameAppointment dateLeft officeDecorationsReferences
1Rear AdmiralSourendra Nath Kohli**11 May 196711 December 1967
2Vice AdmiralNilakanta Krishnan12 December 196720 February 1970PVSM, DSC
3Vice AdmiralJal Cursetji**20 February 197026 February 1973PVSM
4Vice AdmiralV. A. Kamath31 March 19734 April 1977PVSM
5Vice AdmiralRonald Lynsdale Pereira**5 April 197728 February 1979AVSM
6Vice AdmiralSwaraj Parkash1 March 197931 March 1980PVSM, MVC, AVSM
7Vice AdmiralM. R. Schunker1 April 19801 March 1982
8Vice AdmiralSardari Lal Sethi1 March 198230 May 1983AVSM, NM
9Vice AdmiralSubimal Mookerjee31 May 198329 April 1984AVSM
10Vice AdmiralRadhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani**2 May 198427 November 1984PVSM, AVSM
11Vice AdmiralK. K. Nayyar28 November 198428 February 1986PVSM, AVSM
12Vice AdmiralJayant Ganpat Nadkarni**28 February 198630 November 1987PVSM, AVSM, NM, VSM
13Vice AdmiralGulab Mohanlal Hiranandani8 December 198728 February 1989PVSM, AVSM, NM
14Vice AdmiralS. C. Chopra28 February 198930 June 1990PVSM, AVSM, NM
15Vice AdmiralH. Johnson30 June 199031 December 1990PVSM, VSM
16Vice AdmiralSuren P. Govil31 December 199031 October 1992PVSM, AVSM
17Vice AdmiralVijai Singh Shekhawat**31 October 199230 September 1993PVSM, AVSM, VrC, ADC
18Vice AdmiralS. K. Chand15 October 199330 November 1995PVSM, AVSM, ADC
19Vice AdmiralKailash K. Kohli30 November 199519 October 1996AVSM
20Vice AdmiralSushil Kumar**19 October 199631 March 1998PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, NM
21Vice AdmiralP. J. Jacob31 March 199828 February 2001AVSM, VSM
22Vice AdmiralMadhvendra Singh**1 March 20011 January 2002PVSM, AVSM, ADC
23Vice AdmiralJohn Colin De Silva1 January 200230 September 2003PVSM, AVSM, ADC
24Vice AdmiralArun Prakash**17 October 200330 July 2004PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM, ADC
25Vice AdmiralYashwant Prasad30 July 200431 October 2005PVSM, AVSM, VSM
26Vice AdmiralVenkat Bharathan31 October 200530 November 2006PVSM, AVSM, VSM
27Vice AdmiralNirmal Kumar Verma**30 November 20061 April 2008PVSM, AVSM
28Vice AdmiralR. P. Suthan30 April 200830 July 2009
29Vice AdmiralD. K. Dewan1 September 200930 August 2011
30Vice AdmiralRobin K. Dhowan**31 August 201116 April 2014PVSM, AVSM, YSM, ADC
31Vice AdmiralSunil Lanba**2 June 201430 March 2015PVSM, AVSM, ADC
32Vice AdmiralParasurama Naidu Murugesan31 March 201530 May 2016AVSM, VSM
33Vice AdmiralKarambir Singh**31 May 201630 October 2017PVSM, AVSM
34Vice AdmiralAjit Kumar P30 October 201730 January 2019PVSM, AVSM, VSM
35Vice AdmiralG. Ashok Kumar30 January 2019IncumbentAVSM, VSM
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