Central Command (India)

The Central Command of the Indian Army is one of the seven operational commands of the army. It is based at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

Central Command
Insignia of the Central Command
Active	1942–1946 1 May 1963[1] – Present
Country	India
Branch	Indian Army
Type	Command
Garrison/HQ	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta, UYSM AVSM YSM
Notable commanders	Gen S F Rodrigues
Insignia
Flag

History

Second World War

Central Command was first established in 1942 during World War II and then disbanded in 1946.^[2] Southern Command was responsible for most of the training activities for Indian Army until Central Command was formed in April 1942 which took over the responsibility of some of the training areas.^[3]

Post 1962 Indo-China war

With its HQ at Lucknow the Command was re-established on 1 May 1963 due to the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Lt Gen K Bahadur Singh was the first Army Commander of the new Central Command. Prior to that date Lucknow had been the headquarters of the Eastern Command.^[4][5]

Humanitarian assistance and flood relief operations

Central Command undertook humanitarian and Flood Relief Operations at various locations during flash floods including Delhi^[6] and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh).^[7]

Structure

Central Command's Area Of Responsibility (AOR) covers eight states of India: Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha.^[8] 18 Regimental Centres and a large number of logistic and training establishments come under Central Command. The responsibility for the central sector of the Western border with Pakistan also lies with Central Command.^[9] Almost half of the 62 cantonments in India lie within the Central Command's theatre.^[10]

There are two Static Area Formations:– Uttar Bharat Area and Madhya Bharat Area. Central Command earlier used to act as a strategic reserve but now it is looking after Uttarakhand sector of Indo-Tibet and Indo-Nepal border.^[11][12]

Structure of Central Command
Corps	Corps HQ	GOC of Corps (Corps Commander)	Assigned Units	Unit HQ
XVIII Corps[13][14]	N/A	N/A	N/A	Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
N/A	N/A	N/A	14 RAPID Division	Dehradun, Uttarakhand
			50 (Independent) Parachute Brigade	Agra, Uttar Pradesh
			9 (Independent) Mountain Brigade	Joshimath, Uttarakhand
			136 (Independent) Mountain Brigade	Pooh, Himachal Pradesh
			119 (Independent) Mountain Brigade	Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand
N/A	N/A	N/A	Uttar Bharat Area	Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh
			Madhya Bharat Area	Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh

Precursors

Following is the list of precursors to the Western Command and their commanders:^[2]

Central Command (1942–1946)

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command
S.No	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Unit of Commission	References
1	Lieutenant General Henry B. D. Willcox CB, DSO, MC	May 1942	December 1944	Sherwood Foresters
2	General Sir Geoffry A. P. Scoones KBE, CB, CSI, DSO, MC	December 1944	December 1946	2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles)

List of GOC-in-C of Central Command (1963–present)

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command
S.No	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Unit of Commission	References
1	Lieutenant General Kanwar Bahadur Singh MBE	May 1963	August 1966	19th Hyderabad Regiment
2	Lieutenant General Joginder Singh Dhillon	August 1966	August 1970	Corps of Engineers
3	Lieutenant General Premindra Singh Bhagat PVSM, VC	August 1970	Jun 1972	Corps of Engineers
4	Lieutenant General Har Krishen Sibal MVC	June 1972	November 1973	5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)
5	Lieutenant General Khem Karan Singh MVC	November 1973	March 1975	16 Light Cavalry	[15]
6	Lieutenant General J. S. Nakai PVSM	April 1975	March 1979	Regiment of Artillery	[16]
7	Lieutenant General Ram Dharam Dass Hira PVSM, MVC	April 1979	June 1980	11th Gorkha Rifles
8	Lieutenant General Walter Anthony Gustavo Pinto PVSM	July 1980	June 1982	Brigade of the Guards
9	Lieutenant General H. C. Dutta PVSM	July 1982	November 1983	8th Gorkha Rifles
10	Lieutenant General Bhupinder Singh PVSM	December 1983	September 1985	Regiment of Artillery
11	Lieutenant General K. K. Hazari PVSM, AVSM	October 1985	January 1986	Regiment of Artillery
12	Lieutenant General K. B. Mehta PVSM	February 1986	December 1987	Brigade of the Guards
13	Lieutenant General Sami Khan PVSM, SM	January 1988	March 1989	Madras Regiment
14	Lieutenant General Sunith Francis Rodrigues PVSM, VSM	April 1989	October 1989	Regiment of Artillery
15	Lieutenant General Faridoon Noshir Billimoria PVSM	November 1989	June 1991	5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)	[17]
16	Lieutenant General Vijai Singh PVSM	July 1991	February 1992	8th Light Cavalry
17	Lieutenant General Y. N. Sharma PVSM, AVSM, VSM	March 1992	March 1994	The Grenadiers
18	Lieutenant General Arun Kumar Gautama PVSM	April 1994	April 1995	16th Light Cavalry	[18]
19	Lieutenant General R. K. Gulati PVSM	April 1995	May 1996	9th Deccan Horse
20	Lieutenant General Chandra Sekhar PVSM, AVSM	June 1996	September 1997	4th Gorkha Rifles	[19]
21	Lieutenant General Surjit Singh PVSM, VSM	October 1997	September 2000	Dogra Regiment	[20]
22	Lieutenant General P. S. Joshi PVSM, AVSM, VSM	October 2000	September 2001	8th Gorkha Rifles	[21]
23	Lieutenant General D. S. Chauhan PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, VSM	October 2001	December 2003	Madras Regiment	[22]
24	Lieutenant General Ram Subramanyam PVSM	January 2004	December 2005	Corps of Engineers	[23]
25	Lieutenant General O. P. Nandrajog PVSM, AVSM, VSM	January 2006	February 2008	Brigade of the Guards	[24]
26	Lieutenant General Harcharanjit Singh Panag PVSM, AVSM	March 2008	December 2008	Sikh Regiment	[25]
27	Lieutenant General J. K. Mohanty PVSM, UYSM, SM, VSM	January 2009	February 2010	Dogra Regiment
28	Lieutenant General Vijay Kumar Ahluwalia PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VSM	March 2010	February 2012	Regiment of Artillery	[26]
29	Lieutenant General Anil Chait PVSM, AVSM, VSM	March 2012	June 2013	Armoured Corps	[27]
30	Lieutenant General Rajan Bakhshi PVSM, UYSM	July 2013	November 2015	17th Horse (Poona Horse)	[28]
31	Lieutenant General Balwant Singh Negi PVSM, UYSM, YSM, SM, VSM	December 2015	30 September 2018	Assam Regiment	[29]
32	Lieutenant General Abhay Krishna PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM	1 October 2018	30 September 2019	Rajputana Rifles	[30]
33	Lieutenant General Iqroop Singh Ghuman PVSM, AVSM	1 October 2019	31 March 2021	Brigade of The Guards	[31]
34	Lieutenant General Yogendra Dimri PVSM, AVSM, VSM	1 April 2021	28 February 2023	Corps of Engineers	[32]
35	Lieutenant General N. S. Raja Subramani PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM	1 March 2023	30 June 2024	Garhwal Rifles	[33]
36	Lieutenant General Anindya Sengupta PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM	1 July 2024	Incumbent	Punjab Regiment	[34]

See also

Operation Surya Hope