The Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. The DCNS is a PSO (Principal Staff Officer) at Naval Headquarters in New Delhi. The office is held by a Three Star Officer in the rank of Vice Admiral. The current DCNS is Vice Admiral

Sanjay Mahindru Vice Admiral (India), Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahindru, AVSM, Nau Sena Medal, NM is a former flag officer in the Indian Navy. He last served as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, from 31 Mar 2022 to 30 Sept ...

who took over Vice Admiral

Ravneet Singh Ravneet Singh Bittu is an Indian politician. He previously served as the leader of Indian National Congress in Lok Sabha from 11 March 2021 to 18 July 2021. Bittu was elected to the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India from Ludhian ...

on 1 April 2022.

History

At the time of

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

on 15 August 1947, the Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy was the de facto

Second-in-command Second-in-command (2i/c or 2IC) is a title denoting that the holder of the title is the second-highest authority within a certain organisation. Usage In the British Army or Royal Marines, the second-in-command is the deputy commander of a unit, ...

. 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. In 1967, this post was re-designated to

Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS) may refer to: *Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (India) *Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (Pakistan) * Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (United Kingdom) The Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (V.C.N.S.) was a senior appoint ...

and then

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Sourendra Nath Kohli took over as the first VCNS.

From 1972

The appointment was brought back in 1972 in the rank of Rear Admiral. The branch was responsible for Operations, Intelligence, Signals, Air Staff, Air Materiel and Submarines. In 1984, the post was upgraded to three-star rank.

Current organisation

The DCNS heads the Staff Branch-II at the Naval Headquarters. The following Director General/Assistant Principal Staff Officers report into the DCNS. * Director General Naval Operations (DGNO) ** Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Communication, Space and Network Centric Operations) (reports through the DGNO) * Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Foreign Co-operation & Intelligence) * Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air) * Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air Materiel)

Order of precedence

The DCNS ranks at No. 24 on the Indian order of precedence, along with Lieutenant Generals of the Indian Army and Air Marshals of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

. The DCNS is in the HAG+ pay scale (pay level 16), and draws salary depending on the years in service. However, since they should not draw equivalent or more than the next higher level, the renumeration is capped at ₹224,000.

Deputy Chiefs of Naval Staff

1947-1967

1973-present

Notes

References

{{Indian Navy * Indian Navy appointments Indian military appointments