# Commandant of Indian Naval Academy

The Commandant of the Indian Naval Academy is the head and in-charge of all the functioning of the Indian Naval Academy. The commandant of the academy is a three-star rank officer holding the rank of vice admiral. He is supported by the deputy commandant, a two-star appointment and the heads of the Academic Wing (rear admiral principal), Training Wing (commodore rank officer) and the Admin wing (commodore rank officer). The current Commandant is Vice Admiral C. R. Praveen Nair who took over in January 2024.

## History

The Naval Academy (NAVAC) was set up in Cochin in 1969 as a temporary institution, to train officers for the Navy. The first Officer-in-charge (OIC) was Commander Laxminarayan Ramdas. The title of the head of the institution changed to commandant in 1980. The academy moved to Goa in 1986 under Commandants Captain M.S. Bedi and Captain O.P. Bansal.
In 2008, the academy moved to Ezhimala in Kerala and was re-christened the Indian Naval Academy (INA). Rear Admiral M. P. Muralidharan took over as the first commandant of INA.

## List of Commandants

| S.No | Name | Appointment Date | Left Office | Notes |
| 1 | Captain D. Mohindra, NM, VSM | September 1980 | March 1982 | |
| 2 | Captain Madhvendra Singh | March 1982 | July 1983 | Later served as the Chief of the Naval Staff |
| 3 | Captain M. V. Karnik | August 1983 | April 1986 | |
| 4 | Captain M. S. Bedi | April 1986 | July 1986 | |
| 5 | Captain O. P. Bansal, VSM | July 1986 | June 1987 | |
| 6 | Captain K. Mohan Rao, VSM | July 1987 | July 1989 | Later Director General Project Seabird |
| 7 | Captain N. P. Mehta | July 1989 | August 1990 | |
| 8 | Captain K. P. Mathew | August 1990 | December 1991 | |
| 9 | Captain Jagjit Singh Bedi | December 1991 | June 1993 | Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command. |
| 10 | Commodore Nirmal Kumar Verma | July 1993 | September 1994 | Later Chief of the Naval Staff. |
| 11 | Commodore N. Venugopal, VSM | September 1994 | December 1997 | |
| 12 | Commodore R. F. Contractor | December 1997 | April 1999 | Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. |
| 10 | Captain S. P. S. Cheema, NM | April 1999 | June 2001 | Later served as Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff, Commander-in Chief Strategic Forces Command, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command, and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command |
| 13 | Captain K. S. Aiyappa | June 2001 | June 2004 | |
| 14 | Commodore N. N. Rao | June 2004 | June 2007 | |
| 15 | Captain M. A. Hampiholi | June 2007 | January 2008 | Later served as Flag officer Commanding Western Fleet. |
| Commandant INA, Ezhimala |||||
| 16 | Vice Admiral M. P. Muralidharan | January 2008 | September 2009 | First Commandant of the Indian Naval Academy at the Ezhimala campus. Later served as Director General Indian Coast Guard (DGICG). |
| 17 | Vice Admiral Anurag Thapliyal | September 2009 | January 2012 | Later served as Director General Indian Coast Guard (DGICG) |
| 18 | Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan | February 2012 | November 2013 | |
| 19 | Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P, AVSM, VSM | December 2013 | October 2016 | Later served as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command. |
| 20 | Vice Admiral SV Bhokare, YSM, NM | October 2016 | February 2018 | Later served as Inspector General Nuclear Safety. |
| 21 | Vice Admiral R. B. Pandit, AVSM | February 2018 | June 2019 | Later served as Commander-in-Chief,Strategic Forces Command. |
| 22 | Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, AVSM, NM | June 2019 | July 2020 | Current Vice Chief of the Naval Staff. |
| 23 | Vice Admiral M. A. Hampiholi, AVSM, NM | July 2020 | 29 November 2021 | Later served as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command |
| 24 | Vice Admiral Puneet Kumar Bahl, AVSM, VSM | 01 December 2021 | 31 December 2023 | |
| 25 | Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty, AVSM | 15 January 2024 | 29 August 2024 | Current Controller Personnel Services. |
| 26 | Vice Admiral C. R. Praveen Nair, NM | 29 August 2024 | Present | |

## Deputy Commandants

The list of Deputy Commandants and Chief Instructors of the INA:
| S.No | Name | Appointment Date | Left Office | Notes |
| 1 | Rear Admiral Kapil Gupta, VSM | 1 November 2008 | 18 April 2011 | First Deputy Commandant of INA. |
| 2 | Rear Admiral L. V. Sarat Babu, NM | 7 June 2011 | 28 August 2012 | Later Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Shipyard Limited. |
| 3 | Rear Admiral G. V. Ravindran | 29 August 2012 | 30 June 2014 | |
| 4 | Rear Admiral M. D. Suresh, NM | 14 July 2014 | 29 January 2018 | Later Chief of Staff, Southern Naval Command. |
| 5 | Rear Admiral Puneet Chadha, VSM | 27 March 2018 | 3 March 2019 | Current Additional Director General National Cadet Corps. |
| 6 | Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti, VSM | 4 March 2019 | 11 January 2021 | Current Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. |
| 7 | Rear Admiral A. N. Pramod | 11 January 2021 | 1 April 2022 | Current Flag Officer Maharashtra Naval Area. |
| 8 | Rear Admiral Ajay D. Theophilus | 1 April 2022 | 31 July 2023 | Current Flag Officer Goa Area and Flag Officer Naval Aviation. |
| 9 | Rear Admiral Prakash Gopalan | 1 December 2023 | Present | |