The Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. DCNS is a PSO (Principal Staff Officer) appointment at the 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 A. N. Pramod who assumed the office on 1 August 2026.

History At the time of independence of India on 15 August 1947, the Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy was the de facto Second-in-command. 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 and then Rear Admiral 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 appointment of Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (ACNS) was redesignated DCNS. The DCNS had the directorates of Operations, Intelligence, Signals, Air Staff, Air Materiel and Submarines under him. 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 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 remuneration is capped at ₹224,000.

Deputy Chiefs of Naval Staff 1947-1967 S.No. Name Assumed office Left office NotesChief of Staff to Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy1Commodore M. H. St. L. Nott August 1947March 1948Seconded from the Royal Navy. Killed in an air crash.Commodore Ajitendu ChakravertiMarch 1948November 1948Officiating. First Indian officer to be promoted to Commodore. Later Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet.2Commodore Harold Drew 6 December 1948February 1949Seconded from the Royal Navy.Deputy Commander-in-Chief2Commodore Harold Drew February 194918 February 1952Seconded from the Royal Navy.3Commodore Godfrey French18 February 195216 March 1954Seconded from the Royal Navy.4Commodore Ram Dass Katari16 March 1954March 1955Later took over as the first Indian Chief of the Naval Staff.Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff4Commodore Ram Dass KatariApril 1955March 1956Later took over as the first Indian Chief of the Naval Staff.5Commodore Ajitendu ChakravertiMarch 1956April 1958First Indian officer to be promoted to Commodore. Later Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet.6Rear Admiral Adhar Kumar ChatterjiApril 1958May 1962Later Chief of the Naval Staff.7Rear Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda May 1962December 1964Later Chief of the Naval Staff.8Rear Admiral Sourendra Nath KohliDecember 1964May 1967Later Chief of the Naval Staff.

1973-present S.No. Name Assumed office Left office Notes1Rear Admiral Swaraj Parkash (first tenure)March 1973November 1973Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.2Rear Admiral N. P. Datta (first tenure)November 1973April 19743Rear Admiral Swaraj Parkash (second tenure)April 1974March 19764Vice Admiral N. P. Datta (second tenure)March 1976November 19775Rear Admiral M. R. Schunker November 1977February 19786Rear Admiral D. S. Paintal February 1978October 19807Rear Admiral Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani 4 October 198020 February 1982Later Chief of the Naval Staff.8Vice Admiral Subimal Mookerjee 20 February 198227 June 19839Vice Admiral Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani 27 June 198328 November 198410Vice Admiral S. Jain 2 February 198520 February 198611Vice Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas 20 February 198628 November 1987Later Chief of the Naval Staff.12Vice Admiral R. P. Sawhney 28 November 198725 February 1989Later Fortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.13Vice Admiral KASZ Raju 10 March 198928 December 1990Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.14Vice Admiral B. Guha 28 December 199010 November 199215Vice Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat 10 November 199231 December 1994Later Chief of the Naval Staff.16Vice Admiral Avnish Rai Tandon 1 January 199524 April 199617Vice Admiral Madhvendra Singh 24 April 199630 October 1996Later Chief of the Naval Staff.18Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha30 October 199628 February 199819Vice Admiral Madanjit SinghMarch 1998March 199920Vice Admiral Harinder SinghMarch 1999November 200021Vice Admiral Raman Puri24 November 2000January 200222Vice Admiral S. V. GopalachariJanuary 2002August 200423Vice Admiral Sureesh Mehta August 200427 September 2005Later Chief of the Naval Staff.24Vice Admiral Jagjit Singh Bedi 27 September 200524 July 2006Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.25Vice Admiral Raman P. Suthan 24 July 200626 April 200726Vice Admiral Anup Singh26 April 200730 November 2009Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command27Vice Admiral Robin K. Dhowan 30 November 200916 September 2011Later Chief of the Naval Staff.28Vice Admiral Satish Soni 16 September 201129 May 2012Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.29Vice Admiral Pradeep Kumar Chatterjee 29 May 201231 May 2014Later Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command.30Vice Admiral Rama Kant Pattanaik 31 May 201431 October 201531Vice Admiral Karambir Singh 31 October 20156 June 2016Later Chief of the Naval Staff.32Vice Admiral G. Ashok Kumar 6 June 201630 January 2019Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.33Vice Admiral Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar 3 January 201931 May 202134Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh 1 June 202131 March 202235Vice Admiral Sanjay Mahindru 1 April 202230 September 202336Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti 1 October 202331 July 202637Vice Admiral A. N. Pramod 1 August 2026Present

See also Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Chief of the Naval Staff Deputy Chief of the Army Staff Deputy Chief of the Air Staff

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