The Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS) is a senior appointment in the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...

. The DCNS is a PSO (Principal Staff Officer) at Naval Headquarters in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

. 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 Sanjay Mahindru, AVSM, NM is a former flag officer in the Indian Navy. He last served as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, from 31 Mar 2022 to 30 September 2023. Prior to this, he served as the Flag Officer Commanding Mahara ...

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 The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India. Fr ...

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 Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air 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 An officer of two-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-7. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, two-star officers hold the 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

Sourendra Nath Kohli Admiral Sourendra Nath Kohli, PVSM (21 June 1916 – 21 January 1997) was an Indian Navy admiral who served as the 8th Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 March 1973 until 29 February 1976. Kohli served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-I ...

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 An officer of three-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-8. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, three-star officers hold the ...

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 The order of precedence of the Republic of India is a list in which the functionaries, dignitaries and officials are listed for ceremonial purposes and has no legal standing and does not reflect the Indian presidential line of succession or the c ...

, along with

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

s of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

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