I Corps (India)
Strike Corps of the Indian Army
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The I Corps is a military field formation of the Indian Army. The Corps is headquartered at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. It was raised on 1 April 1965. It was still being raised when it was despatched to the front in 1965. Raised as the First Strike Corps of the Indian Army, it was launched into operations in the Sialkot sector. The Corps conducted a counteroffensive during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. In the 1971 war against Pakistan, it took part in the Battle of Basantar.[2]
| I Corps | |
|---|---|
Indian Army I Corps Formation Sign | |
| Active | 1965–present[1] |
| Country |  India |
| Branch |  Indian Army |
| Role | Strike Corps |
| Size | Corps |
| Part of | .svg){kind=small} Northern Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Mathura |
| Engagements | Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Lt Gen V Hariharan AVSM |
| Notable commanders | General Joginder Jaswant Singh General Vishwa Nath Sharma Lt Gen Sagat Singh Lt Gen Khem Karan Singh |
The corps conducts Exercise Parvat Prahaar (Mountain Strike) to maintain combat readiness in the northern sector along Line of Actual Control. The exercise which is conducted in high-altitude, rugged terrain conditions, includes tanks, artillery (including K-9 Vajra T), air-defence systems and other assets. The editions of the exercise are 2022 and 2024.[3][4]
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Under Lt. Gen. K. K. Singh during 1971, the composition of the corps was:[5][6]
- X Sector
- 36th Infantry Division (8, 115 Brigades initially)
- 39th Infantry Division
- 54th Infantry Division
Present Day
In 2021, the Strike One Corps was shifted to Northern Command from the South Western Command to focus on Sino-Indian border in Ladakh.[7] According to reports, around 500 main battle tanks and 50,000 troops are deployed in Eastern Ladakh region.[4]
The I Corps created in 1965 and headquartered at Mathura, consists of the following formations:
- 4 RAPID Division (Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh), also called Red Eagle Division.[8]
- 6 Mountain Division (Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh) also called Garud Division
- 14 (Independent) Armoured Brigade, also called Black Chargers Brigade
The following were moved to direct command of South Western Command
- 33 Armoured Division (Hisar Military Station, Haryana), also called Dot On Target (DOT) Division,[14] consisting of –
- 33 Artillery Brigade
- 1 × Towed artillery Regiment (e.g. Howitzer),
- 1 × Self propelled artillery Regiment
- 1 × LT AD (Light Air Defence) artillery and was located at Faridkot & Ferozpur
- 39 Armoured Brigade (formerly 39th Mechanised Brigade)
- 57 Armoured Brigade (formerly 57th Mechanised Brigade)
- 88 Armoured Brigade (formerly 88th Mechanised Brigade).[15]
- 627th (Independent) Armoured Air Defence Brigade (formerly '627th (Independent) Mechanised Air Defence Brigade')
- 33 Artillery Brigade
- 42 Artillery Division (Bassi, Rajasthan), also called Strategic Striker Division.
List of General Officers Commanding
| Rank | Name | Appointment Date | Left office | Unit of Commission | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant General | Patrick Oswald Dunn | May 1965 | January 1967 | 3rd Gorkha Rifles | [16] |
| Jahangir Tehmursap Sataravala | January 1967 | August 1971 | 13th Frontier Force Rifles | ||
| Khem Karan Singh | August 1971 | November 1973 | 16th Light Cavalry | [17] | |
| Sagat Singh | November 1973 | November 1974 | 3rd Gorkha Rifles | ||
| D.K. Chandorkar | December 1974 | March 1978 | Rajputana Rifles | ||
| Jaswant Singh | March 1978 | January 1980 | Punjab Regiment | ||
| Tirath Singh Oberoi | January 1980 | August 1981 | Punjab Regiment, Parachute Regiment | ||
| Harish Chandra Dutta | August 1981 | August 1982 | 8th Gorkha Rifles | ||
| Anand Sarup | August 1982 | August 1984 | 8th Gorkha Rifles | [18] | |
| Vishwa Nath Sharma | October 1984 | March 1986 | 16th Light Cavalry | [19] | |
| Y.S. Tomar | March 1986 | June 1987 | The Grenadiers | ||
| R.N. Mahajan | June 1987 | December 1988 | Kumaon Regiment | [20] | |
| R. Sharma | December 1988 | January 1991 | 2nd Lancers | [21] | |
| V.K. Singh | January 1991 | April 1992 | Madras Regiment | [22] | |
| Y.M. Bammi | April 1992 | July 1993 | 4th Gorkha Rifles | ||
| A.S. Sandhu | July 1993 | April 1995 | Deccan Horse | ||
| Vijay Oberoi | April 1995 | June 1997 | Maratha Light Infantry | ||
| Rajendra Singh Kadyan | August 1997 | January 2001 | Rajputana Rifles | ||
| J.J. Singh | January 2001 | December 2002 | Maratha Light Infantry | [23] | |
| Tej S Pathak | December 2002 | May 2004 | Parachute Regiment | [24] | |
| Susheel Gupta | May 2004 | April 2006 | Jammu and Kashmir Rifles | [25] | |
| P.C. Katoch | April 2006 | October 2007 | Parachute Regiment | [26] | |
| Tejinder Singh | October 2007 | October 2008 | Brigade of the Guards | ||
| S.R. Ghosh | October 2008 | November 2009 | Brigade of The Guards | [27] | |
| A.K. Singh | November 2009 | April 2011 | 7th Light Cavalry | [28] | |
| Ashok Singh | May 2011 | August 2012 | Brigade of The Guards | [29] | |
| P.R. Kumar | August 2012 | August 2013 | Regiment of Artillery, Army Aviation Corps | [30] | |
| Ravindra Thogde | August 2013 | September 2014 | 1st Gorkha Rifles | [31] | |
| Ashok Bhim Shivane | September 2014 | October 2015 | 7th Light Cavalry | [32] | |
| Shokin Chauhan | 8 October 2015 | November 2016 | 11th Gorkha Rifles | [33] | |
| Ranbir Singh | 30 November 2016 | 29 December 2017 | Dogra Regiment | [34] | |
| Taranjit Singh | 29 December 2017 | 25 January 2019 | 65 Armoured Regiment | [35] | |
| Amardeep Singh Bhinder | 25 January 2019 | 3 April 2020 | Deccan Horse | [36] | |
| Codanda Poovaiah Cariappa | 4 April 2020 | 5 April 2021 | Rajputana Rifles | [37] | |
| Manoj Kumar Katiyar | 6 April 2021 | 30 April 2022 | Rajput Regiment | [38] | |
| Gajendra Joshi | 1 May 2022 | 08 June 2023 | Garhwal Rifles | [39] | |
| Sanjay Mitra | 09 June 2023 | 16 June 2025 | The Grenadiers | [40] | |
| V Hariharan | 17 June 2025 | Incumbent | Garhwal Rifles | [41] |