Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (India)

The Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS) is a statutory position in the Indian Armed Forces, that is usually held by a three star vice admiral. The Vice Chief is the deputy of the Chief of the Naval Staff and is usually the second highest ranking officer of the Indian Navy.

The current VCNS is Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar who assumed the appointment on 29 May 2026.

History At the time of independence of India on 15 August 1947, the Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy was the de facto Second-in-command. The appointment was held by an officer of the rank of Commodore. In 1949, the Chief of Staff was also made Deputy Commander-in-Chief RIN. In 1955, the post was re-designated Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. In 1959, the post was upgraded to Two-star rank.

On 11 May 1967, the office was re-designated to Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, in line with the Indian Army and Indian Air Force. It was first held by Sourendra Nath Kohli. 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. Chief Hydrographer Inspector General Nuclear Safety (IGNS) Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition (CWP&A) Director General Project Seabird Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Policy & Plans) Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Staff Requirements) Principal Director Naval Plans (PDNP) Integrated Financial Advisor (Navy) Director General of Naval Armament (DGONA) Director General Naval Armament Inspectorate (DGNAI) Scientific Adviser to the Chief of the Naval Staff (SA to CNS)

Order of precedence 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 (GOC-in-C), Naval Commanders (FOC-in-C) and Air Commanders (AOC-in-C). The VCNS is at the Apex Pay grade (Grade 17), with a monthly pay of ₹225,000 (US$3,200).

Appointees The following table chronicles the appointees to the office of the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff. S. No.RankPortraitNameAssumed OfficeLeft officeCNSReference1Rear AdmiralSourendra Nath Kohli11 May 196711 December 1967Admiral Chatterji2Vice AdmiralNilakanta Krishnan12 December 196720 February 19703Jal Cursetji20 February 197026 February 1973Admiral Nanda4V. A. Kamath31 March 197331 March 1977Admiral S. N. KohliAdmiral Cursetji5Ronald Lynsdale Pereira5 April 197728 February 19796Swaraj Parkash1 March 197931 March 1980Admiral Ronald Pereira7M. R. Schunker1 April 19801 March 19828Sardari Lal Sethi1 March 198230 May 1983Admiral Dawson9Subimal Mookerjee31 May 198329 April 198410Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani2 May 198427 November 198411Kewal Krishan Nayyar28 November 198428 February 1986Admiral Radhakrishna Tahiliani12Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni28 February 198630 November 198713Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani8 December 198728 February 1989Admiral Nadkarni14Subhash Chandra Chopra28 February 198930 June 199015Heathwood Johnson30 June 199031 December 1990Admiral Ramdas16Surendra Prakash Govil31 December 199031 October 199217Vijai Singh Shekhawat31 October 199230 September 199318Sudarshan Kumar Chand15 October 199330 November 1995Admiral Vijai Shekhawat19Kailash Kumar Kohli30 November 199519 October 1996Admiral Bhagwat20Sushil Kumar19 October 199631 March 199821P. J. Jacob31 March 199828 February 2001Admiral Sushil Kumar22Madhvendra Singh1 March 20011 January 200223John Colin De Silva1 January 200230 September 2003Admiral Madhvendra Singh24Arun Prakash17 October 200330 July 200425Yashwant Prasad30 July 200431 October 2005Admiral Prakash26Venkat Bharathan31 October 200530 November 2006Admiral Mehta27Nirmal Kumar Verma30 November 20061 April 200828R. P. Suthan30 April 200830 July 200929D. K. Dewan1 September 200930 August 2011Admiral Nirmal Verma30Robin K. Dhowan31 August 201116 April 2014Admiral Joshi31Sunil Lanba2 June 201430 March 2015Admiral Dhowan32Parasurama Naidu Murugesan31 March 201530 May 201633Karambir Singh31 May 201630 October 2017Admiral Lanba34Ajit Kumar P30 October 201730 January 201935G. Ashok Kumar30 January 201931 July 2021Admiral Karambir Singh36Satish Namdeo Ghormade31 July 202131 March 2023Admiral R. Hari Kumar37Sanjay Jasjit Singh1 April 202331 December 202338Dinesh Kumar Tripathi4 January 202430 April 202439Krishna Swaminathan1 May 202431 July 2025Admiral Dinesh Tripathi40Sanjay Vatsayan1 August 202529 May 202641Ajay Kochhar29 May 2026IncumbentAdmiral Krishna Swaminathan

See also Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Chief of the Air Staff Vice Chief of the Army Staff Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff

Notes 1.Later promoted to the rank of Admiral and to the post of the Chief of Naval Staff.

References