Chief of Materiel (Indian Navy)

Senior appointment in the Indian Navy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Chief of Materiel (COM) is a senior Indian Navy appointment in the rank of Vice-Admiral. As a Principal Staff Officer (PSO) at Naval Headquarters (NHQ), the COM is responsible for all aspects of maintenance management and life-cycle support of all engineering, electrical, electronic, weapons, sensors, and IT-related systems for ships and submarines, along with responsibility for the creation of major marine and technical infrastructure. The present COM is Vice Admiral B. Sivakumar, who succeeded Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh on 1 November 2025.

TypePrincipal Staff Officer
AbbreviationCOM
Reports toChief of the Naval Staff
SeatNaval Headquarters, New Delhi
Quick facts of Materiel, Type ...
Chief of Materiel
Flag of the Vice Admiral
since 1 November 2025
 Indian Navy
TypePrincipal Staff Officer
AbbreviationCOM
Reports toChief of the Naval Staff
SeatNaval Headquarters, New Delhi
Close

History

In 1949, the Naval headquarters was reorganised and appointment of Chief of Material (COM) was created. The appointment was held by an officer of the rank of Captain. The COM was to look after the material resources of the service. The Director of Naval engineering, Staff Officer (Dockyard), Director Armament Supply and the Director of Electrical Engineering reported into the COM.[1]

The appointment was filled by the Chief of Administration as an additional charge until the early 1950s. Captain Daya Shankar, DSC was the first Indian to serve as the COM full-time.

Organisation

The COM heads the Materiel Branch at the Naval Headquarters. The following Directors General/Controllers/Assistant Principal Staff Officers report into the COM:[2]

  • Controller of Logistics
    • Assistant Controller of Logistics
  • Assistant Chief of Materiel (Nuclear System Maintenance)
  • Assistant Chief of Materiel (Information Technology & Systems)
  • Assistant Chief of Materiel (Dockyard & Refit)
  • Assistant Chief of Materiel (Modernisation)

Appointees

More information S.No., Name ...
S.No. Name Assumed office Left office Notes
Captain Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman 14 November 1948 April 1949 While also serving as Chief of Administration.[1][3][4]
1 Captain John Edward Maxwell Glenny DSO, DSC 26 April 1949 15 March 1951 Seconded from the Royal Navy. While also serving as Chief of Administration.[1][3][4]
2 Captain Albert Henry Fitch Hunt 15 March 1951 6 October 1952 Seconded from the Royal Navy.[5]
3 Captain Ian Frederick Montague Newnham 7 October 1952 20 November 1954 Seconded from the Royal Navy. Last British appointee.[6]
4 Commodore Daya Shankar DSC 20 November 1954[n 1] 1 September 1957 First Indian appointee.[6]
5 Commodore Bhalchandra Nagesh Lele MBE 15 December 1957 21 July 1958 [8]
6 Commodore Pabitra Kumar Mukerjee 22 July 1958 4 June 1960 [9]
7 Commodore Baldan Singh Baswani 4 June 1960 8 January 1962 [10]
8 Commodore Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda 20 February 1962 13 May 1962 [11]
9 Commodore C. L. Bhandari 15 May 1962 21 January 1963 Officiating.[12]
10 Commodore Sourendra Nath Kohli 21 January 1963 20 December 1964 [13]
11 Rear Admiral P. S. Mahindroo 11 February 1965[n 2] 19 December 1967 [14][15][16]
12 Rear Admiral Vasudeva Anant Kamath 15 January 1968 22 December 1968 [16]
13 Rear Admiral Kamalakar Laxman Kulkarni 23 December 1968 12 March 1973 [17][18]
14 Vice Admiral Rajendra Tandon PVSM, AVSM 26 March 1973 [n 3] 30 June 1976 [19][20]
15 Vice Admiral J. T. G. Pereira PVSM, AVSM 1 July 1976 30 June 1979 [21][22]
16 Vice Admiral A. K. Bhatia PVSM, AVSM, VSM 1 July 1979 31 January 1983 [22][23]
17 Vice Admiral Narendra Bhalla AVSM 1 February 1983 29 March 1985 [24]
18 Vice Admiral L.R. Mehta 30 March 1985 20 December 1985 [25]
19 Vice Admiral S.B.N. Singh PVSM, AVSM 28 February 1986 30 November 1989 [26]
20 Vice Admiral J. N. Sukul PVSM, AVSM 30 November 1989 31 December 1990 [27]
21 Vice Admiral I. C. Rao PVSM, AVSM 31 December 1990 31 March 1993 [28]
22 Vice Admiral Mauli Bhushan Ghosh PVSM, AVSM, NM 31 March 1993 31 January 1994 [29][30]
23 Vice Admiral A.V.R. Narayana Rao PVSM, AVSM, VSM 28 March 1994 31 August 1995 [31]
24 Vice Admiral Adolph Britto PVSM, AVSM, VSM 31 August 1995 30 April 1997 [32][33]
25 Vice Admiral A. S. Krishnan PVSM, AVSM, VSM 30 April 1997 31 December 2001 [34]
26 Vice Admiral P. C. Bhasin PVSM, AVSM, VSM 31 December 2001 30 January 2004 [35]
27 Vice Admiral Parvesh Jaitly 30 January 2004 31 August 2005 [36]
28 Vice Admiral D. S. P. Verma AVSM, VSM 31 August 2005 30 November 2007 [37][38]
29 Vice Admiral Birinder Singh Randhawa AVSM, VSM 30 November 2007 30 December 2008 [37]
30 Vice Admiral Dilip Deshpande AVSM, VSM 31 December 2008 31 October 2009 [39]
31 Vice Admiral Ganesh Mahadevan AVSM, VSM 31 October 2009 30 April 2012 [40]
32 Vice Admiral B. Kannan AVSM, VSM 30 April 2012 31 October 2012 [41]
33 Vice Admiral N. N. Kumar AVSM, VSM 31 October 2012 31 March 2014 [42]
34 Vice Admiral K. R. Nair AVSM, VSM 31 March 2014 31 May 2015 [42]
35 Vice Admiral A. V. Subhedar PVSM, AVSM, VSM 31 May 2015 31 October 2016
36 Vice Admiral G. S. Pabby PVSM, AVSM, VSM 31 October 2016 1 September 2020 [43]
37 Vice Admiral S. R. Sarma AVSM, VSM 1 September 2020 31 May 2021 [44][45]
38 Vice Admiral Sandeep Naithani AVSM, VSM 1 June 2021 31 December 2023 [45]
39 Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh AVSM, VSM 1 January 2024 31 October 2025 [46]
40 Vice Admiral B. Sivakumar AVSM, VSM 1 November 2025 Present [47]
Close

Notes

  1. [1]
    Post upgraded to Commodore 2nd Class on 24 September 1956.[7]
  2. [2]
    Post upgraded to Rear Admiral 17 August 1965.[14]
  3. [3]
    Post upgraded to Vice-Admiral in March 1973.[19]

References

Related Articles

Wikiwand AI