The 54th Infantry Division is an Infantry division of the Indian Army. The Division was raised as an Infantry Division, but was converted into a Reorganised Amphibious Formation (RAMFOR) in 2011. It is currently the only division of the Indian Army which carries out Amphibious warfare. The division is headquartered at Secunderabad in Telangana and is a part of XXI Corps. The Division is commanded by an Officer of the rank of Major General titled General Officer Commanding (GOC).

History The 54th Infantry Division was raised at Secunderabad on 1 October 1966. Major General SS Maitra, AVSM was the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) the Division. At the time of its raising, the division had three Infantry Brigades and one Artillery Brigade. 47 Infantry Brigade was raised by Brigadier B D Man Singh at Golconda Fort, 91 Infantry Brigade by Brigadier K P Lahiri, VrC at Bolarum and the 54 Artillery Brigade was raised by Brigadier N V Subramaniam at Bowenpally.

Order of battle (ORBAT) during raising 47 Infantry Brigade 20th Bn The Bihar Regt 13th battalion, Jammu and Kashmir Rifles (13 JAKRIF) 5th battalion, 3rd Gorkha Rifles (5/3 GR) 91 Infantry Brigade 4th battalion, Madras Regiment (4 Madras) 3rd battalion, Maratha Light Infantry (3 MLI) 2nd battalion, 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) (2/5 GR) 74 Infantry Brigade 4th battalion, Sikh Light Infantry (4 Sikh LI) 5th battalion, Madras Regiment (5 Madras) 22nd battalion, Maratha Light Infantry (22 MLI) 54 Artillery Brigade 7 Field Regiment 141 Field Regiment 6 Medium Regiment 278 Medium Regiment 1889 Light Regiment

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

In the event of a war, the 54th Infantry Division was to be part of I Corps, then the only Strike Corps of the Indian Army. The division was commanded by Major General WAG Pinto, the 3rd General Officer Commanding (GOC). The division moved from its peacetime location in Secunderabad to its operational location in the Punjab and was ready by mid-September 1971.

ORBAT The ORBAT of the division during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was: Divisional Reserves 45 AD Regiment 6th battalion, Madras Regiment (6 Madras) 9 Engineer Regiment (Lt Col B T Pandit) 47 Infantry Brigade (Brigadier A P Bhardwaj) 16th battalion, Madras Regiment (Lt Col V P Ghai) 16th battalion, Dogra Regiment (16 Dogra) 3rd battalion, The Grenadiers (Lt Col V P Airy) 74 Infantry Brigade (Brigadier Ujaggar Singh) 8th battalion, The Grenadiers (8 Granadiers) 6th battalion, Kumaon Regiment (6 Kumaon) 9th battalion, Maratha Light Infantry (9 MLI) 91 Infantry Brigade (Brigadier A K Handoo) 3rd battalion, Garhwal Rifles (3 Garh Rif) 3rd battalion, 1st Gorkha Rifles (The Malaun Regiment) (3/1 GR) 16 (Independent) Armoured Brigade (Brigadier A S Vaidya ) 4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) (Lt Col R M Vohra) 16th Light Cavalry (Lt Col Mahindra Singh) 17 Horse (Poona Horse) (Lt Col Hanut Singh) 75 Medium Regiment (Lt Col K N Thadani) 18th battalion, Rajputana Rifles (18 Raj Rif) 90 (Independent) Reconnaissance Squadron (AMX-13) 54 Artillery Brigade (Brigadier Avtar Singh) 69 Field Regiment 161 Field Regiment 162 Field Regiment (Lt Col A K Bhandari) 44 Light Regiment 70 Medium Regiment 41 (Independent) Artillery Brigade

The tasks allotted to the Division were: Carry out offensive operations based upon Galar with the ultimate aim of capturing Zafarwal and Dhamtal. While doing so, capture Darman, Bari, Laisar Kalan, Supwal Ditch and Badwal. Be prepared to capture Deoli and Mirzapur, if required. This meant that the Division was to operate between the Degh Nadi and the Karir Nadi.

The Pakistani forces opposite the Division consisted of elements of the 8th Infantry Division. The 24 Infantry Brigade with four battalions (11 Baloch which held the Supwal ditch, 40 Punjab which was deployed east of the Karir Nadi, 24 Punjab which was defending the Basantar Nala), a brigade in Zafarwal area and Reconnaissance elements of 21 Baloch. Apart from these infantry units, Pakistani armour consisted of the 8 Armoured Brigade which had 13th Lancers, 31 Cavalry and 27 Cavalry under it, equipped with M47 Patton and M48 Patton tanks.

The Division crossed the border as planned at 2000 hrs on 6 December and captured the border outposts at Chamnakhurd, Danadout, Galar Tanda, Chak Jangu, Dhandhar, Mukhwal and Buru Chakby 0230 hrs 7 December.

Battle of Basantar

The Battle of Basantar was among the most vital battles in the war. It was one of the greatest tank battles fought by the Indian Army. The Division had the 47 Infantry Brigade, 91 Infantry Brigade and the 74 Infantry Brigade, Poona Horse, one squadron of Hodson's Horse and 75 Medium Regiment. The date for the Basantar crossing was fixed for night 14/15 December, but was postponed by 24 hours by Gen Pinto. The Battle of Basantar was a decisive Indian victory.

The 47 Infantry Brigade was christened Basantar Brigade after the war.

In what is an Indian Army record, the 54th Infantry Division won as many as 196 gallantry medals in just 14 days of fierce fighting. These include 2 Param Vir Chakras, 9 Mahavir Chakras and 4 Vir Chakra. The GOC, Major General WAG Pinto was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.

The Division remained in Pakistan until the Simla Agreement, after which it moved back to Secunderabad in March 1973. A war trophy - a disabled Pakistani M47 Patton Tank was gifted by the Division to the Government of Andhra Pradesh and had it installed on the Tank Bund Road, Hyderabad.

Awards and honours

+ Key†Indicates posthumous honour

Award Rank Name Unit References Param Vir Chakra Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal † 17 Poona Horse Param Vir Chakra Major Hoshiar Singh Dahiya 3 Grenadiers Mahavir Chakra Lieutenant Colonel Hanut Singh 17 Poona Horse Mahavir Chakra Lieutenant Colonel V P Airy 3 Grenadiers Mahavir Chakra Lieutenant Colonel V P Ghai † 16 Madras Mahavir Chakra Lieutenant Colonel Raj Mohan Vohra 4 Horse Mahavir Chakra Major Amarjit Singh Bal 17 Poona Horse Mahavir Chakra Major D V Singh 8 Grenadiers Mahavir Chakra Major Vijay Rattan Choudhry † 9 Engineer Regiment Mahavir Chakra Havildar Thomas Philipose 16 Madras Vir Chakra Lieutenant Colonel B T Pandit 9 Engineer Regiment Vir Chakra Captain Satish Chander Sehgal † 75 Medium Regiment Vir Chakra Captain Ravinder Nath Gupta † 9 Engineer Regiment Vir Chakra Naib Subedar Dorai Swamy 9 Engineer Regiment

Operation Pawan

The Division, led by Major General Harkirat Singh, was the first formation to be inducted into Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). The Division was grouped with a Mechanised Infantry battalion, a Squadron of Armour and an Air Operation Flight.

ORBAT Divisional Reserves 10th battalion, Para Commando (10 Para Cdo) 65 Armoured Regiment 91 Infantry Brigade 5th battalion, Madras Regiment (5 Madras) 8th battalion, Mahar Regiment (8 Mahar) 1st battalion, Maratha Light Infantry (1 MLI) 76 Infantry Brigade 41 Infantry Brigade 93 Field Regiment 831 Light Regiment

The Division was in Sri Lanka for over two and a half years and was de-inducted on 20 March 1990.

Awards and honours During Operation Pawan, the Division earned a total of 471 awards including 1 Param Vir Chakra, 3 Mahavir Chakras, 4 Uttam Yudh Seva Medals and 32 Vir Chakras.

Award Rank Name Unit References Param Vir Chakra Major Ramaswamy Parameshwaran 8 Mahar Mahavir Chakra Brigadier Manjit Singh 41 Infantry Brigade Mahavir Chakra Colonel Inder Bal Singh Bawa 4/5 Gorkha Rifles Mahavir Chakra Major Puttichanda Somaiah Ganapathi 8 Mahar

Other Operations Operation Parakram Internal security duties during the 1990 Mandal Commission protests and 2002 Gujarat riots. Humanitarian assistance - Operation Sahayta, Operation Sea Waves, Operation Madad, Operation Megh, Operation, Operation Lehar and Operation Hudhud.

General Officers Commanding S.No. Name Assumed office Left office1Major General S S Maitra 196619692Major General K.A.S. Raja 196919713Major General WAG Pinto 197119744Major General K S Bajwa 197419765Major General M L Tuli 197619776Major General A K Handoo197719797Major General D S C Rai 197919818Major General G K Sen 198119839Major General Shamsher Singh 1983198510Major General V K Singh 1985198711Major General Harkirat Singh1987198812Major General S C Sardeshpande 1988198913Major General R N Bhalla 1989199014Major General M M Lakhera 1990199215Major General B N Kapur1992199416Major General S P S Kanwar 1994199617Major General Mahesh Vij1996199818Major General Basant Singh 1998200019Major General S Pattabhiraman 2000200120Major General Zameer Uddin Shah 2001200321Major General K S Siva Kumar 2003200422Major General S P S Dhillon 2004200523Major General S P Rai 2005200624Major General Anil Chait 2006200825Major General Rajesh Singh 2008200926Major General R C Chadha2009201127Major General Amit Sharma2011201228Major General Cherish Mathson 2012201329Major General R K Jagga2014201530Major General R S Mann 2015201631Major General Satish N Wasade2016201732Major General B D Rai 2017201833Major General Manjinder Singh2018202034Major General Alok Joshi2020202135Major General PP Singh2021202236Major General R K Suresh , 2022202437Major General Akhilesh Kumar 2024202538Major General RD Sharma 2025Incumbent

See also List of military divisions Indian Peace Keeping Force Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

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