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.
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.
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: 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 S.No. Name Assumed office Left office NotesCaptain Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman14 November 1948April 1949While also serving as Chief of Administration.1Captain John Edward Maxwell Glenny 26 April 194915 March 1951Seconded from the Royal Navy. While also serving as Chief of Administration.2Captain Albert Henry Fitch Hunt15 March 19516 October 1952Seconded from the Royal Navy.3Captain Ian Frederick Montague Newnham 7 October 195220 November 1954Seconded from the Royal Navy. Last British appointee.4Commodore Daya Shankar 20 November 1954 1 September 1957First Indian appointee.5Commodore Bhalchandra Nagesh Lele 15 December 195721 July 19586Commodore Pabitra Kumar Mukerjee22 July 19584 June 19607Commodore Baldan Singh Baswani4 June 19608 January 19628Commodore Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda20 February 196213 May 19629Commodore C. L. Bhandari15 May 196221 January 1963Officiating.10Commodore Sourendra Nath Kohli21 January 196320 December 196411Rear Admiral P. S. Mahindroo11 February 1965 19 December 196712Rear Admiral Vasudeva Anant Kamath15 January 196822 December 196813Rear Admiral Kamalakar Laxman Kulkarni23 December 196812 March 197314Vice Admiral Rajendra Tandon 26 March 1973 30 June 1976 15Vice Admiral J. T. G. Pereira 1 July 197630 June 197916Vice Admiral A. K. Bhatia 1 July 197931 January 1983 17Vice Admiral Narendra Bhalla 1 February 198329 March 1985 18Vice Admiral L.R. Mehta30 March 198520 December 1985 19Vice Admiral S.B.N. Singh 28 February 198630 November 1989 20Vice Admiral J. N. Sukul 30 November 198931 December 1990 21Vice Admiral I. C. Rao 31 December 199031 March 1993 22Vice Admiral Mauli Bhushan Ghosh 31 March 199331 January 1994 23Vice Admiral A.V.R. Narayana Rao 28 March 199431 August 1995 24Vice Admiral Adolph Britto 31 August 199530 April 1997 25Vice Admiral A. S. Krishnan 30 April 199731 December 2001 26Vice Admiral P. C. Bhasin 31 December 200130 January 2004 27Vice Admiral Parvesh Jaitly30 January 200431 August 200528Vice Admiral D. S. P. Verma 31 August 200530 November 200729Vice Admiral Birinder Singh Randhawa 30 November 200730 December 200830Vice Admiral Dilip Deshpande 31 December 200831 October 200931Vice Admiral Ganesh Mahadevan 31 October 200930 April 201232Vice Admiral B. Kannan 30 April 201231 October 201233Vice Admiral N. N. Kumar 31 October 201231 March 201434Vice Admiral K. R. Nair 31 March 201431 May 201535Vice Admiral A. V. Subhedar 31 May 201531 October 201636Vice Admiral G. S. Pabby 31 October 20161 September 202037Vice Admiral S. R. Sarma 1 September 202031 May 202138Vice Admiral Sandeep Naithani 1 June 202131 December 202339Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh 1 January 202431 October 202540Vice Admiral B. Sivakumar 1 November 2025Present
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