# Chief of Materiel (Indian Navy)

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 Kiran Deshmukh, who succeeded Vice-Admiral Sandeep Naithani on 1 January 2024.

## 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 | Notes |
| 1 | Captain Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman | February 1949 | October 1949 | While also serving as Chief of Administration. |
| 2 | Captain S. G. Karmarkar | October 1949 | October 1950 | While also serving as Chief of Administration. |
| 3 | Captain G. S. Kapoor | October 1950 | 1951? | While also serving as Chief of Administration. |
| 4 | Captain Albert Henry Fitch Hunt | 1951? | 1952 | Seconded from the Royal Navy. |
| 5 | Captain Ian Frederick Montague Newnham | 1952? | July 1954 | Seconded from the Royal Navy. Last British appointee. |
| 6 | Commodore Daya Shankar DSC | July 1954 | December 1957 | First Indian appointee. |
| 7 | Commodore B. N. Lele | December 1957 | January 1962 | |
| 8 | Commodore Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda | February 1962 | May 1962 | |
| | Commodore C. L. Bhandari | May 1962 | 1963 | Officiating. |
| 9 | Commodore Sourendra Nath Kohli | 1963 | January 1965 | |
| 10 | Rear Admiral P. S. Mahindroo | February 1965 | January 1968 | |
| 11 | Rear Admiral Vasudeva Anant Kamath | December 1967 | December 1968 | |
| 12 | Rear Admiral Kamalakar Laxman Kulkarni | December 1968 | March 1973 | |
| 13 | Vice Admiral Rajendra Tandon PVSM, AVSM | April 1973 | 30 June 1976 | |
| 14 | Vice Admiral J. T. G. Pereira PVSM, AVSM | 1 July 1976 | 30 June 1979 | |
| 15 | Vice Admiral A. K. Bhatia PVSM, AVSM, VSM | 1 July 1979 | 31 January 1983 | |
| 16 | Vice Admiral Narendra Bhalla AVSM | 1 February 1983 | | |
| 17 | Vice Admiral L.R. Mehta | | February 1986 | |
| 18 | Vice Admiral S.B.N. Singh PVSM, AVSM | 1 March 1986 | 1 April 1988 | |
| 19 | Vice Admiral I. C. Rao PVSM, AVSM | 1 April 1988 | 31 March 1993 | |
| 20 | Vice Admiral Mauli Bhushan Ghosh PVSM, AVSM, NM | 1 April 1993 | 31 January 1994 | |
| 21 | Vice Admiral A.V.R. Narayana Rao PVSM, AVSM, VSM | 28 March 1994 | 31 August 1995 | |
| 22 | Vice Admiral Adolph Britto PVSM, AVSM, VSM | 31 August 1995 | 30 April 1997 | |
| 23 | Vice Admiral A. S. R. Krishnan PVSM, AVSM, VSM | April 1997 | 2001 | |
| 24 | Vice Admiral Parvesh Jaitly | July 2001 | 2006 | |
| 25 | Vice Admiral D. S. P. Verma AVSM, VSM | 2006 | 1 December 2007 | |
| 26 | Vice Admiral Birinder Singh Randhawa AVSM, VSM | 1 December 2007 | 30 December 2008 | |
| 27 | Vice Admiral Dilip Deshpande AVSM, VSM | 31 December 2008 | 31 October 2009 | |
| 28 | Vice Admiral Ganesh Mahadevan AVSM, VSM | 31 October 2009 | 30 April 2012 | |
| 29 | Vice Admiral B. Kannan AVSM, VSM | 30 April 2012 | | |
| 30 | Vice Admiral N. N. Kumar AVSM, VSM | | 31 March 2014 | |
| 31 | Vice Admiral K. R. Nair AVSM, VSM | 31 March 2014 | 2015 | |
| 32 | Vice Admiral A. V. Subhedar PVSM, AVSM, VSM | | 31 October 2016 | |
| 33 | Vice Admiral G. S. Pabby PVSM, AVSM, VSM | 31 October 2016 | 1 September 2020 | |
| 34 | Vice Admiral S. R. Sarma AVSM, VSM | 1 September 2020 | 31 May 2021 | |
| 35 | Vice Admiral Sandeep Naithani AVSM, VSM | 1 June 2021 | 31 December 2023 | |
| 36 | Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh AVSM, VSM | 1 January 2024 | Present | |