| Post: | Commandant |
| Body: | the National Defence College |
| Incumbent: | Air Marshal Hardeep Bains |
| Type: | Military |
| Status: | Active |
| Formation: | July 1959 |
| First: | Lieutenant General Kanwar Bahadur Singh, |
| Website: | https://ndc.nic.in/ |
The Commandant of the National Defence College in India is the overall in-charge of all the functioning of the National Defence College including academics and administration. The Commandant of the college is a Three-star rank officer from the three Services in rotation for a term of two years.
In July 1959, Lieutenant General Kanwar Bahadur Singh was appointed the first Commandant of the college. By the end of the year, he formulated detailed plans including the aim and the charter of NDC as well as the scope of studies at the college. The Chiefs of Staff cleared approved them on December 25, 1959.[1]
The Commandant is supported by seven Senior Directing Staff (3 from the Indian Army and 1 each from the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Civil Service and the Foreign Service). Administration is looked after by the Secretary under the Commandant and is supported by a number of Staff Officers.[2]
| S.No | Name | Branch | Assumed office | Left office | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 1959 | January 1964 | First Commandant of NDC[3] | |||
| 2 | January 1964 | January 1966 | Later served as the Chief of the Naval Staff | |||
| 3 | January 1966 | December 1966 | Later served as Vice Chief of the Air Staff. Died in harness while VCAS. | |||
| 4 | Lieutenant General M M Khanna | December 1966 | November 1968 | |||
| 5 | November 1968 | April 1971 | Served as Western Naval Commander during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and later served as Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy | |||
| 6 | April 1971 | April 1973 | Served as the Central Air Commander and Western Air Commander before taking over as the 9th Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force | |||
| 7 | Lieutenant General M N Batra | April 1973 | January 1975 | First ex-NDC Commandant | ||
| 8 | January 1975 | January 1977 | Served as Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and later served as Eastern Naval Commander | |||
| 9 | Air Marshal T N Ghadiok | February 1977 | December 1978 | |||
| 10 | January 1979 | January 1980 | Later served as the Central Army Commander | |||
| 11 | Air Marshal D G Kinglee | September 1980 | September 1982 | Later served as the Central Air Commander | ||
| 12 | Vice Admiral R V Aarte | September 1982 | August 1984 | |||
| 10 | Lieutenant General Himmeth Singh | September 1984 | June 1986 | |||
| 13 | Air Marshal P K Puri | July 1986 | August 1988 | |||
| 14 | Vice Admiral S P Govil | September 1988 | September 1990 | Later served as Vice Chief of Naval Staff | ||
| 15 | Lieutenant General K S Khajuria | September 1990 | June 1992 | |||
| 16 | Air Marshal S Kulkarni | July 1992 | January 1995 | |||
| 17 | Vice Admiral Vinod Pasricha | January 1995 | December 1996 | Later served as Eastern Naval Commander and Western Naval Commander | ||
| 18 | Lieutenant General SRR Aiyengar | January 1997 | April 1999 | Later served as Commandant of Defence Services Staff College | ||
| 19 | Air Marshal V G Kumar | April 1999 | March 2001 | |||
| 20 | Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad | April 2001 | December 2002 | Later served as Southern Naval Commander and thereafter the Vice Chief of Naval Staff | ||
| 21 | Lieutenant General S S Chahal | December 2002 | June 2004 | |||
| 22 | Lieutenant General Tej Pathak | July 2004 | December 2004 | |||
| 23 | Air Marshal P P Raj Kumar | January 2005 | December 2006 | Later served as the Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command and thereafter Central Air Commander | ||
| 24 | Vice Admiral Pradeep Kaushiva | December 2006 | September 2007 | |||
| 25 | Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin | September 2007 | December 2008 | Later served as the Western Naval Commander | ||
| 26 | Lieutenant General Prakash Menon | January 2009 | December 2010 | |||
| 27 | Air Marshal P K Roy | January 2011 | November 2012 | |||
| 28 | December 2012 | June 2014 | Later served as the Chief of the Naval Staff | |||
| 29 | Lieutenant General N S Ghei | June 2014 | December 2016 | |||
| 30 | Lieutenant General Y V K Mohan | January 2017 | January 2018 | Later served as Commandant of Defence Services Staff College[4] | ||
| 31 | Vice Admiral Srikant | January 2018 | 16 December 2019 | Later died in harness of COVID-19.[5] | ||
| 32 | Air Marshal Diptendu Choudhury | 16 December 2019 | 30 October 2021 | [6] | ||
| 33 | Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Mago | 31 October 2021 | 31 December 2022 | [7] | ||
| 34 | Lieutenant General Sukriti Singh Dahiya | 1 January 2023 | 30 April 2024 | [8] | ||
| 35 | Air Marshal Hardeep Bains | Indian Air Force | 1 May 2024 | Present | [9] |
Army - 14
Navy - 11
Air Force - 10