Mahindru joined and graduated from the National Defence Academy. He was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 1 January 1985. He specialised in navigation and qualified as a submariner. He attended the Joint Services Command and Staff College at United Kingdom. He has served in the Directorate of Submarine Operations and Directorate of Nuclear Submarine Acquisition.[1]
He commanded the Shishumar-class submarine INS Shalki (S46), the cadet training ship INS Krishna (F46) and the lead ship of her class of guided-missile destroyers INS Rajput (D51). He also commanded the submarine base INS Satavahana, the Navy’s submarine training establishment where he set up the School for Advanced Underwater Warfare.[2][3]
Mahindru attended the Higher Naval Command Course at the College of Naval Warfare,Goa . He later served as the Naval Assistant to the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command and to the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command. As a Commodore, he headed the Arihant Project, India’s first Nuclear Submarine.[4]
Mahindru was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in September 2015 and was appointed Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM), the single-point class authority of submarines in India.[1] After a year-long stint as FOSM, he took over as the Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA).[4][5][6] As FOMA, he initiated a number of initiatives to improve lives of naval veterans.[7] For his tenure as FOMA, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2018.[8]
Mahindru subsequently served as the Chief Staff Officer at Headquarters Strategic Forces Command. In 2019, he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Forces Command.[9]
On 31 March 2022, he moved to Naval HQ having been appointed Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS) succeeding Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh who superannuated.[9] He superannuated on 30 September 2023 and handed over charge of DCNS to Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti.[10]
India
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Vice Admiral
Param Vishisht Seva Medal
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
Nao Sena Medal
