Director General Naval Operations

The Director General Naval Operations (DGNO) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. The DGNO is responsible for planning, executing, and overseeing all operational aspects of the Indian Navy. The office is held by a Three star officer in the rank of Vice Admiral. The current DGNO is Vice Admiral A. N. Pramod who took over on 15 January 2024.

Director General Naval Operations
Flag of the Vice Admiral
Incumbent Vice Admiral A. N. Pramod AVSM YSM since 15 January 2024
Indian Navy
Type	Director General
Abbreviation	DGNO
Reports to	Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff
Seat	Naval Headquarters, New Delhi

History

At the time of independence of India on 15 August 1947, the Directorate of Operations was under the Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy, the de facto Second-in-command. In 1949, the Chief of Staff was also made Deputy Commander-in-Chief RIN.^[1] In 1955, the post was re-designated Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff (DCNS).^[2] The Directorate continued to be under the DCNS until 1984, when an Assistant Principal Staff Officer (APSO) appointment called Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Operations) (ACNS Ops) was created. A two-star appointment, the ACNS (Ops) continued to report into the DCNS.^[3]

In 1986, the Directorates of Submarine Operations, Tactics, Diving and Oceanology & Meteorology were added to ACNS (Ops). ^[4] In 1997, Information warfare was added to the mandate of ACNS (Ops) and the appointment was re-designated ACNS (IWOPS).^[5] In 2013, the appointment was upgraded to Three-star rank and re-designated Director General Naval Operations. Vice Admiral Girish Luthra took over as the first DGNO.^[6][7]

Current organisation

The DGNO is part of the Staff Branch-II at the Naval Headquarters. The following Assistant Principal Staff Officers and directorates report into the DGNO.^[8]

• Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Communication, Space and Network Centric Operations)
  • Directorate of Naval Signals
  • Directorate Network and Space Operations
  • Directorate of Network Centric Operations
• Directorate of Naval Operations
• Directorate of Special Operations and Diving
• Directorate of Information Warfare
• Directorate of Naval Oceanology and Meteorology
• Directorate of Submarine Operations
• Naval History Division

Directors General Naval Operations

S.No.	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Notes
1	Vice Admiral Girish Luthra AVSM, VSM	April 2013	31 December 2014	Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.[9]
2	Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla AVSM, NM, VSM	31 December 2014	27 May 2016	Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.[10]
3	Vice Admiral Satishkumar Namdeo Ghormade AVSM, NM	28 May 2016	13 February 2019	Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.[11]
4	Vice Admiral M. A. Hampiholi AVSM, NM	27 March 2019	12 August 2020	Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.[12]
5	Vice Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi AVSM, NM	13 August 2020	30 May 2021	Current Chief of the Naval Staff.[13]
6	Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar AVSM, VSM	7 June 2021	31 March 2023	Current Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[14]
7	Vice Admiral Atul Anand AVSM, VSM	1 April 2023	3 July 2023	Current Additional Secretary, Department of Military Affairs.[15]
8	Vice Admiral A. N. Pramod AVSM	21 January 2024	Present	Current DGNO.[16]

See also

• Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff

References

1. "NHQ REORGANISATION" (PDF). pibarchive.nic.in. 3 February 1949.
2. Nanda, S M (October 2015). The man who bombed Karachi : a memoir. HarperCollins Publishers India. p. 113. ISBN 978-8172235628.
3. Hiranandani 2005, p. 358.
4. Hiranandani 2005, p. 359.
5. Hiranandani 2010, p. 238.
6. Babu 2023, p. 270. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBabu2023 (help)
7. Correspondent, Special (30 January 2019). "Vice Admiral Girish Luthra to retire today". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 August 2025. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
8. "Staff Branch-II | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in.
9. Correspondent, Special (30 January 2019). "Vice Admiral Girish Luthra to retire today". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 August 2025. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
10. "Vice admiral AK Chawla, AVSM, VSM, NM assumes charge as Chief of Personnel". business-standard.com. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
11. "Vice Admiral SN Ghormade, NM takes over as Director General of Naval Operations | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in. Archived from the original on 2016-10-22. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
12. "Vice Admiral MA Hampiholi, AVSM, NM Assumes Charge as Director General Naval Operations | Indian Navy". www.indiannavy.nic.in. Archived from the original on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
13. "Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, AVSM, NM, Assumes Charge as Director General Naval Operations (DGNO)". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
14. "Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, AVSM, VSM assumes Charge as Director General Naval Operations". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
15. "Vice Admiral Atul Anand takes over as director general naval operations". mint. 1 April 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
16. "VICE ADMIRAL AN PRAMOD ASSUMES CHARGE AS DIRECTOR GENERAL NAVAL OPERATIONS". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 27 August 2025.

Bibliography

• Hiranandani, G M (2005), Transition to eminence : the Indian navy 1976-1990, Lancer Publishers, ISBN 978-8170622666
• Hiranandani, G. M. (2010), Transition to Guardianship: The Indian Navy 1991-2000, Lancer InterConsult, Incorporated, ISBN 978-1935501268
• Dorai, Babu (2023), A Decade of Transformation: The Indian Navy 2011-2021, HarperCollins Publishers India, ISBN 978-9394407909