The Chief of Personnel (COP) in the Indian Navy is a senior appointment in the rank of Vice-Admiral. As a Principal Staff Officer (PSO) at Naval Headquarters (NHQ), the COP is responsible for personnel-related matters. The present COP is Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh who was appointed on 1 November 2025.
History At the time of Independence of India, the COP was one of five PSOs at Naval headquarters. The appointment was held by an officer of the rank of Captain. On 24 September 1956, the appointment was upgraded to the rank of Commodore (Second Class). The directorates of personnel services, training education, medical services, judge advocate general and the supply branch were under the COP.
In 1965, the appointment was further upgraded to Rear Admiral. Rear Admiral K. R. Nair was the first COP in this rank, when he took over on 17 August 1965. The post was further upgraded to Vice Admiral in March 1973. During this re-organisation, an assistant PSO post was created - Assistant Chief of Personnel (ACOP) - a two-star appointment. In the 1980s, two new directorates were formed under the COP - Financial Planning (Non-public funds) in 1985 and Ex-Servicemen Affairs (DESA) in 1988.
Organisation The COP heads the Personnel Branch at the Naval Headquarters. The following Directors General/Controllers/Assistant Principal Staff Officers report into the COP.
Controller of Personnel Services Director General Medical Services Assistant Director General Medical Services Assistant Chief of Personnel (HRD) Assistant Chief of Personnel (Administration and Civilian) Judge Advocate General
Appointees S.No. Name Assumed office Left office NotesCommodore Henry Richmond Inigo-Jones January 1947August 1947Last British appointee. 1Captain Bhaskar Sadashiv SomanAugust 1947February 1949Later Chief of the Naval Staff.2Captain Ram Dass KatariFebruary 194914 December 1951Later Chief of the Naval Staff.3Captain Benjamin Abraham Samson14 December 1951June 19544Commodore Sardarilal Mathradas NandaSeptember 1954November 1956Later Chief of the Naval Staff.5Commodore Gyan Sarup Kapoor18 February 195720 November 19596Commodore Kesavapillai Ramkrishnan Nair (first tenure)20 November 195919637Commodore Douglas St. John Cameron1963June 19658Rear Admiral Kesavapillai Ramkrishnan Nair (second tenure)June 1965December 19679Rear Admiral Jal CursetjiDecember 196720 February 1970Later Chief of the Naval Staff. Commodore Elenjikal Chandy Kuruvila 20 February 1970October 1970Officiating. 10Vice Admiral Rabindra Nath Batra October 1970March 197611Vice Admiral Rustom K. S. Ghandhi March 1976March 197712Vice Admiral Swaraj Parkash March 1977March 197913Vice Admiral Manohar Prahlad Awati 1 April 1979February 198114Vice Admiral Sardari Lal Sethi February 198125 February 198215Vice Admiral Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni 16 August 1982April 1984Later Chief of the Naval Staff.16Vice Admiral S. M. Gadihoke 30 June 1984June 198817Vice Admiral Vasant Laxman Koppikar 6 July 1988199218Vice Admiral R. B. Suri1992December 199419Vice Admiral Kailash K. Kohli 5 January 199530 November 199520Vice Admiral Sushil Kumar 4 December 1995October 1996Later Chief of the Naval Staff.21Vice Admiral P. J. Jacob 20 November 199631 March 199822Vice Admiral John Colin De Silva March 1998March 199923Vice Admiral Arun Prakash March 19993 October 2001Later Chief of the Naval Staff.24Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh3 October 2001May 200225Vice Admiral Sureesh Mehta May 2002January 2003Later Chief of the Naval Staff.26Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad January 2003October 200327Vice Admiral Venkat Bharathan October 2003August 2005Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.28Vice Admiral S. K. DamleAugust 2005July 200729Vice Admiral D. K. Dewan July 2007September 2009Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.30Vice Admiral M. P. Muralidharan September 2009January 201231Vice Admiral Anurag Thapliyal January 2012March 201332Vice Admiral Parasurama Naidu Murugesan March 201331 July 2015Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.33Vice Admiral Abhay Raghunath Karve 24 August 201528 May 2016Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.34Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla 28 May 20161 August 2018Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.35Vice Admiral R. Hari Kumar 1 August 20182 December 2019Later Chief of the Naval Staff.36Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh 2 December 201931 May 2021Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.37Vice Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi 1 June 202128 February 2023Later Chief of the Naval Staff.38Vice Admiral Suraj Berry 1 April 20236 October 2023Later Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command.39Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan 6 October 202330 April 2024Current Chief of the Naval Staff.40Vice Admiral Sanjay Bhalla 10 May 202431 October 2025Current Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.41Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh 1 November 2025Present
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