| Unit Name: | Central Command |
| Type: | Command |
| Dates: | 1942–1946 1 May 1963[1] – Present |
| Current Commander: | Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta, |
| Garrison: | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh |
| Notable Commanders: | Gen S F Rodrigues |
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 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]
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]
Central Command undertook humanitarian and Flood Relief Operations at various locations during flash floods including Delhi[6] and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh).[7]
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 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] | 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 | |||
Following is the list of precursors to the Western Command and their commanders:
| General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | References | |
| 1 | May 1942 | December 1944 | Sherwood Foresters | |||
| 2 | December 1944 | December 1946 | 2nd King Edward VII's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) | |||
| General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.No | Name | Assumed office | Left office | Unit of Commission | References | |
| 1 | May 1963 | August 1966 | ||||
| 2 | Lieutenant General Joginder Singh Dhillon | August 1966 | August 1970 | Corps of Engineers | ||
| 3 | August 1970 | Jun 1972 | Corps of Engineers | |||
| 4 | Lieutenant General Har Krishen Sibal | June 1972 | November 1973 | 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) | ||
| 5 | November 1973 | March 1975 | 16 Light Cavalry | [14] | ||
| 6 | Lieutenant General J. S. Nakai | April 1975 | March 1979 | Regiment of Artillery | [15] | |
| 7 | Lieutenant General Ram Dharam Dass Hira | April 1979 | June 1980 | 11th Gorkha Rifles | ||
| 8 | July 1980 | June 1982 | Brigade of the Guards | |||
| 9 | Lieutenant General H. C. Dutta | July 1982 | November 1983 | 8th Gorkha Rifles | ||
| 10 | Lieutenant General Bhupinder Singh | December 1983 | September 1985 | Regiment of Artillery | ||
| 11 | Lieutenant General K. K. Hazari | October 1985 | January 1986 | Regiment of Artillery | ||
| 12 | Lieutenant General K. B. Mehta | February 1986 | December 1987 | Brigade of the Guards | ||
| 13 | January 1988 | March 1989 | Madras Regiment | |||
| 14 | April 1989 | October 1989 | Regiment of Artillery | |||
| 15 | November 1989 | June 1991 | 5th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) | [16] | ||
| 16 | Lieutenant General Vijai Singh | July 1991 | February 1992 | 8th Light Cavalry | ||
| 17 | Lieutenant General Y. N. Sharma | March 1992 | March 1994 | The Grenadiers | ||
| 18 | Lieutenant General Arun Kumar Gautama | April 1994 | April 1995 | 16th Light Cavalry | [17] | |
| 19 | Lieutenant General R. K. Gulati | April 1995 | May 1996 | 9th Deccan Horse | ||
| 20 | Lieutenant General Chandra Sekhar | June 1996 | September 1997 | 4th Gorkha Rifles | [18] | |
| 21 | Lieutenant General Surjit Singh | October 1997 | September 2000 | Dogra Regiment | [19] | |
| 22 | Lieutenant General P. S. Joshi | October 2000 | September 2001 | 8th Gorkha Rifles | [20] | |
| 23 | Lieutenant General D. S. Chauhan | October 2001 | December 2003 | Madras Regiment | [21] | |
| 24 | Lieutenant General Ram Subramanyam | January 2004 | December 2005 | Corps of Engineers | [22] | |
| 25 | Lieutenant General O. P. Nandrajog | January 2006 | February 2008 | Brigade of the Guards | [23] | |
| 26 | March 2008 | December 2008 | Sikh Regiment | [24] | ||
| 27 | Lieutenant General J. K. Mohanty | January 2009 | February 2010 | Dogra Regiment | ||
| 28 | Lieutenant General Vijay Kumar Ahluwalia | March 2010 | February 2012 | Regiment of Artillery | ||
| 29 | March 2012 | June 2013 | Armoured Corps | [25] | ||
| 30 | Lieutenant General Rajan Bakhshi | July 2013 | November 2015 | 17th Horse (Poona Horse) | [26] | |
| 31 | December 2015 | 30 September 2018 | Assam Regiment | [27] | ||
| 32 | 1 October 2018 | 30 September 2019 | Rajputana Rifles | [28] | ||
| 33 | 1 October 2019 | 31 March 2021 | Brigade of The Guards | [29] | ||
| 34 | 1 April 2021 | 28 February 2023 | Corps of Engineers | [30] | ||
| 35 | 1 March 2023 | 30 June 2024 | Garhwal Rifles | [31] | ||
| 36 | 1 July 2024 | Incumbent | Punjab Regiment | [32] | ||