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.

The current Central Army Commander is Lieutenant General Sanjay Mitra, who assumed command on 1 October 2026.

History Second World War Central Command was first established in 1942 during World War II and then disbanded in 1946.Army Commands 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.

Humanitarian assistance and flood relief operations Central Command undertook humanitarian and Flood Relief Operations at various locations during flash floods including Delhi and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh).

Structure Central Command's Area Of Responsibility (AOR) covers eight states of India: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. 18 Regimental Centres and a 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.

In February 2024, reports emerged for the formation of a new Corps under the Central Command for deployment along Line of Actual Control (LAC). The XVIII Corps will consist of at least one division (with around 15,000 to 18,000 combat soldiers each) and three independent brigades. This includes 14 RAPID Division, 9 Mountain Brigade, 136 Mountain Brigade and 119 Mountain Brigade. This move will convert HQ Uttar Bharat from a Static Formation into 'Full-fledged Combat Arm'.

There are two Static Area Formations:– Uttar Bharat Area and Madhya Bharat Area. Central Command earlier used to act as a strategic reserve but now it is looking after Uttarakhand sector of Indo-Tibet and Indo-Nepal border. Structure of Central CommandInsigniaCorps/AreaCorps/Area HQGeneral Officer CommandingAssigned UnitsUnit HQUttar Bharat AreaBareilly, Uttar PradeshLt Gen Divya Gaurav MisraMadhya Bharat AreaJabalpur, Madhya PradeshLt Gen Harbinder Singh Vandra14 RAPID DivisionDehradun, Uttarakhand50 (Independent) Parachute BrigadeAgra, Uttar Pradesh9 (Independent) Mountain BrigadeJoshimath, Uttarakhand136 (Independent) Mountain BrigadePoo, Himachal Pradesh119 (Independent) Mountain BrigadePithoragarh, Uttarakhand

Precursors Following is the list of precursors to the Western Command and their commanders:

Central Command (1942–1946) General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command S.NoRank Name Portrait Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission References1Lieutenant GeneralHenry B. D. WillcoxMay 1942December 1944Sherwood Foresters2GeneralSir Geoffry A. P. ScoonesDecember 1944December 19462nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

List of GOC-in-C of Central Command (1963–present) S.NoRank NamePortrait Assumed office Left office Unit of Commission References1Lieutenant GeneralKanwar Bahadur SinghMay 1963August 196619th Hyderabad Regiment 2Joginder Singh DhillonAugust 1966August 1970Corps of Engineers3Premindra Singh BhagatAugust 1970Jun 1972Corps of Engineers4Har Krishen SibalJune 1972November 19735th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)5Khem Karan SinghNovember 1973March 197516 Light Cavalry6J. S. NakaiApril 1975March 1979Regiment of Artillery7Ram Dharam Dass HiraApril 1979June 198011th Gorkha Rifles8Walter Anthony Gustavo PintoJuly 1980June 1982Brigade of the Guards9H. C. DuttaJuly 1982November 19838th Gorkha Rifles10Bhupinder SinghDecember 1983September 1985Regiment of Artillery11K. K. HazariOctober 1985January 1986Regiment of Artillery12K. B. MehtaFebruary 1986December 1987Brigade of the Guards13Sami KhanJanuary 1988March 1989Madras Regiment14Sunith Francis RodriguesApril 1989October 1989Regiment of Artillery15Faridoon Noshir BillimoriaNovember 1989June 19915th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)16Vijai SinghJuly 1991February 19928th Light Cavalry17Y. N. SharmaMarch 1992March 1994The Grenadiers18Arun Kumar GautamaApril 1994April 199516th Light Cavalry19R. K. GulatiApril 1995May 19969th Deccan Horse20Chandra SekharJune 1996September 19974th Gorkha Rifles21Surjit SinghOctober 1997September 2000Dogra Regiment22Pankaj Shivram JoshiOctober 2000September 20018th Gorkha Rifles23D. S. ChauhanOctober 2001December 2003Madras Regiment24Ram SubramanyamJanuary 2004December 2005Corps of Engineers25Om Prakash NandrajogJanuary 2006February 2008Brigade of the Guards26Harcharanjit Singh PanagMarch 2008December 2008Sikh Regiment27Jayanta Kumar MohantyJanuary 2009February 2010Dogra Regiment28Vijay Kumar AhluwaliaMarch 2010February 2012Regiment of Artillery29Anil ChaitMarch 2012June 2013Armoured Corps30Rajan BakhshiJuly 2013November 201517th Horse (Poona Horse)31Balwant Singh NegiDecember 201530 September 2018Assam Regiment32Abhay Krishna1 October 201830 September 2019Rajputana Rifles33Iqroop Singh Ghuman1 October 201931 March 2021Brigade of The Guards34Yogendra Dimri1 April 202128 February 2023Corps of Engineers35N. S. Raja Subramani1 March 202330 June 2024Garhwal Rifles36Anindya Sengupta1 July 202430 September 2026Punjab Regiment37Sanjay Mitra1 October 2026IncumbentThe Grenadiers

Notes 1.Later promoted to the rank of General.

See also

Operation Surya Hope

References

External links Central Command @ globalsecurity.org