Indian Coast Guard


The Indian Coast Guard is an 4th Armed Forces of India, Search and Rescue and Maritime Law Enforcement agency that protects India's maritime interests and enforces its maritime law, with jurisdiction over the territorial waters of India, including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. The Indian Coast Guard was formally established on 18 August 1978 by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 of the Parliament of India. It operates under the Ministry of Defence.
The Coast Guard works in close cooperation with the Indian Navy, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Revenue and the Central and State police forces.

History

The establishment of the Indian Coast Guard was first proposed by the Indian Navy to provide non-military maritime services to the nation. In the 1960s, sea-borne smuggling of goods was threatening India's domestic economy. The Indian Customs Department frequently called upon the Indian Navy for assistance with patrol and interception in the anti-smuggling effort.
The Nagchaudhuri Committee was constituted with participation from the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force to study the problem. In August 1971, the committee identified the requirement to patrol India's vast coastline, set up a registry of offshore fishing vessels in order to identify illegal activity, and establish a capable and well-equipped force to intercept vessels engaged in illegal activities. The committee also looked at the number and nature of the equipment, infrastructure and personnel required to provide those services.
By 1973, India had started a programme to acquire the equipment and started deputing personnel from the Indian Navy for these anti-smuggling and law enforcement tasks, under the provisions of the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. The Indian Navy sensed that the law enforcement nature of these duties diverged from its core mission as a military service. Admiral Sourendra Nath Kohli, then Chief of Naval Staff, hence made a recommendation to the Defence Secretary outlining the need for a separate maritime service to undertake those duties and offering the Navy's assistance in its establishment. On 31 August 1974, the Defence Secretary submitted a note to the Cabinet Secretary proposing cabinet action on Admiral Kohli's recommendation.
As a result, in September 1974, the Indian cabinet set up the Rustamji Committee, under the chairmanship of Khusro Faramurz Rustamji, with participation from the Navy, the Air Force and the Department of Revenue to examine gaps in security and law enforcement between the roles of the Indian Navy and the central and state police forces. The discovery of oil off Bombay High further emphasised the need for a maritime law enforcement and protection service. The committee submitted its recommendation for the establishment of the Indian Coast Guard under the Ministry of Defence on 31 July 1975. Bureaucratic wrangling followed, with the Cabinet Secretary making a recommendation to place the service under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi overruled the Cabinet Secretary and decided to accept the original recommendation of the Rustamji Committee to place the service under the Ministry of Defence.
An interim Indian Coast Guard came into being on 1 February 1977, equipped with two small corvettes and five patrol boats transferred from the Navy. The duties and functions of the service were formally defined in the Coast Guard Act, which was passed by India's parliament on 18 August 1978 and came into immediate effect.
Vice Admiral V A Kamath of the Indian Navy was appointed the founding Director-General. Prime Minister Morarji Desai inspected the Guard of Honour at the service's inauguration. Vice Admiral Kamath proposed a five-year plan to develop the ICG into a potent force by 1984, but the full potential of this plan was not immediately realised due to an economic resource crunch.
One of the historic operational successes of the ICG occurred in October 1999, with the recapture at high seas of a Panamanian-registered Japanese cargo ship, MV Alondra Rainbow, hijacked off Indonesia. Her crew were rescued off Phuket, Thailand. The ship had been repainted as MV Mega Rama, and was spotted off Kochi, heading towards Pakistan. She was chased by ICGS Tarabai and of the Indian Navy, and apprehended. It was the first successful prosecution of armed pirates in over a century.
The Indian Coast Guard conducts exercises with the other coast guards of the world. In May 2005, the ICG agreed to establish liaison links with Pakistan's Maritime Security Agency. In 2006, the Indian Coast Guard conducted exercises with its Japanese and Korean counterparts.
After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Indian government initiated a programme to expand the ICG force, assets and infrastructure.
The force aims to have 200 ships and 100 twin-engined aircraft by 2023 in its fleet.

Present scenario

Current role

The Indian Coast Guard's motto is "वयम रक्षामः", which translates from Sanskrit as "We Protect".
Missions of Indian Coast Guard:
Additional responsibilities of the Indian Coast Guard:
The Indian Coast Guard organisation is headed by the Director-General who is located at Coast Guard Headquarters, New Delhi. At CGHQ, he is assisted by four Deputy Director-Generals of the rank of Inspector-General, and other senior officers heading various staff divisions. The current Director-General is Krishnaswamy Natarajan, PTM, TM.
Director-General of Indian Coast Guard is equivalent to Vice Admiral of Indian Navy.
The Indian Coast Guard operates five regions. Each region is headed by an officer of the rank of Inspector-General. Each of the regions is further divided into multiple districts, typically covering a coastal state or a union territory.
Coast Guard regionsRegional HQ locationRegional commander
Western Region MumbaiIG AP Badola
Eastern Region ChennaiIG Parmesh Sivamani, PTM, TM
North-East Region KolkataIG AK Harbola, TM
Andaman & Nicobar Region Port BlairIG Maneesh V Pathak, TM
North-West Region GandhinagarIG Rakesh Pal, PTM, TM

By the end of 2012, the Indian Coast Guard is on track to operate:
There are currently 42 Coast Guard stations which have been established along the coastline of the country. Presently, there is no proposal for setting-up more Coast Guard Stations.
Regional HQDistrict HQCoast Guard Station
North-East Region CGRHQ KolkataCGAE Kolkata
North-East Region CGRHQ KolkataICGS Kolkata
North-East Region CGRHQ KolkataDHQ-7 ParadipCGAE Bhubaneswar
North-East Region CGRHQ KolkataDHQ-7 ParadipICGS Gopalpur
North-East Region CGRHQ KolkataDHQ-8 HaldiaICGS Frazerganj
Eastern Region CGRHQ ChennaiDHQ-13 PuducherryICGS Thoothukudi
Eastern Region CGRHQ ChennaiDHQ-13 PuducherryICGS Mandapam
Eastern Region CGRHQ ChennaiDHQ-13 PuducherryICGS Puducherry
Eastern Region CGRHQ ChennaiDHQ-5 ChennaiCGAS Chennai
Eastern Region CGRHQ ChennaiDHQ-5 ChennaiICGS Karaikal
Eastern Region CGRHQ ChennaiDHQ-6 VisakhapatnamICGS Kakinada
Eastern Region CGRHQ ChennaiDHQ-6 VisakhapatnamICGS Nizampatnam
Eastern Region CGRHQ ChennaiDHQ-6 VisakhapatnamICGS Krishnapatnam
Eastern Region CGRHQ ChennaiDHQ-6 VisakhapatnamCGAE Visakhapatnam
Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port BlairCGAE Port Blair-
Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port BlairDHQ-14 Port BlairICGS Port Blair
Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port BlairDHQ-14 Port BlairICGS Hutbay
Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port BlairDHQ-9 DiglipurICGS Mayabunder
Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port BlairDHQ-9 DiglipurICGS Diglipur
Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port BlairDHQ-10 Campbell BayICGS Campbell Bay
Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port BlairDHQ-10 Campbell BayICGS Kamorta
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-3 New MangaluruICGS Karwar
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-3 New MangaluruCGAE New Mangaluru
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-2 MumbaiICGS Murud Janjira
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-2 MumbaiICGS Ratnagiri
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-2 MumbaiICGS Dahanu
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-4 KochiICGS Vizhinjam
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-4 KochiICGS Beypore
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-4 KochiCGAE Kochi
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-11 GoaICGS Goa
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-11 GoaCGAE Goa
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-12 KavarattiICGS Kavaratti
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-12 KavarattiICGS Minicoy
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiDHQ-12 KavarattiICGS Androth
Western Region CGRHQ MumbaiCGAS Daman
North-West Region CGRHQ GandhinagarICGS Gandhinagar
North-West Region CGRHQ GandhinagarDHQ-1 PorbandarICGS Pipavav
North-West Region CGRHQ GandhinagarDHQ-1 PorbandarICGS Jakhau
North-West Region CGRHQ GandhinagarDHQ-1 PorbandarICGS Mundra
North-West Region CGRHQ GandhinagarDHQ-1 PorbandarICGS Veraval
North-West Region CGRHQ GandhinagarDHQ-1 PorbandarICGS Vadinar
North-West Region CGRHQ GandhinagarDHQ-1 PorbandarICGS Okha
North-West Region CGRHQ GandhinagarDHQ-1 PorbandarCGAE Porbandar

Personnel

Officer rank structure

A table showing the rank structure of Coast Guard officers with those of the other Indian armed services.
These are not promulgated anywhere by the Armed Forces and this is not a correct depiction of equivalence and no such Document exists
Indian Coast Guard RanksIndian Army RanksIndian Navy RanksIndian Air Force Ranks
Director-GeneralGeneralAdmiralAir Chief Marshal
Additional Director-GeneralLieutenant GeneralVice AdmiralAir Marshal
Inspector-GeneralMajor GeneralRear AdmiralAir Vice Marshal
Deputy Inspector-GeneralBrigadierCommodoreAir Commodore
CommandantColonelCaptainGroup Captain
Commandant Lt ColonelCommanderWing Commander
Deputy CommandantMajorLt CommanderSquadron Leader
Assistant Commandant CaptainLieutenantFlight Lieutenant
Assistant CommandantLieutenantSub LieutenantFlying Officer

Ranks and Insignia of Indian Coast Guard Officers

Coast Guard officers

The naming of ranks of officers in the Coast Guard is as same as rank of Central Armed Police Forces. Officers are appointed in the Coast Guard in one of four branches, as either General-Duty officer, Pilot officer, Technical officer or Law officers. Lady Officers have two branches i.e. General-Duty Officer or Pilot Officer and serve on shore establishments/Air Stations/Headquarters. They are not deployed on board Indian Coast Guard ships.
Currently, officers of Indian Coast Guard undergo Basic Military Training at the Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala along with their counterparts of Indian Navy. This helps in the mutual interchange of Officers among these two sister services. While the Indian Coast Guard Academy is under construction in Mangalore, Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka.
;General-Duty Officers
The command of ships at sea can only be exercised by officers of the General-Duty branch. The key functions of a General-Duty Officer would be to operate weapons, sensors and different kinds of equipment on board a ship. The safety of the ship and the men would be GD officers responsibility. All the District Commanders and Commander of Coast Guard Region appointments are exercised by a GD Officer of the Indian Coast Guard.
;Pilot Officers
Pilot Officers are also part of GD branch. A Pilot Officer gets an opportunity to work at shore Air Stations along the Indian coasts and also embark ships. ICG operates fixed wing aircraft for surveillance of the Exclusive Economic Zone. In addition, helicopters are embarked on Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessels to provide local surveillance and perform search and rescue mission at sea.
;Technical Officers
Technical Officers are responsible for operation of advanced technology and sensor systems on board Coast Guard vessels and aircraft, as well as on shore installations. They also command the maintenance wings of the force.
;Law Officers
Law Officers act as legal advisers to their respective commanders. They represent the Indian Coast Guard in legal actions filed by or against the organisation. They also perform the duties of trial law officers in Coast Guard courts, convened to try delinquent Coast Guard personnel. The Directorate of Law at Coast Guard Headquarters is headed by a Deputy Inspector-General and is designated as the Chief Law Officer. Section 115 of the Coast Guard Act, 1978 deals with the qualifications necessary to be appointed as the Chief Law Officer of Indian Coast Guard. Section 116 of the Coast Guard Act, 1978 defines the functions of the Chief Law Officer.

Enrolled personnel

Enrolled personnel in the Coast Guard serve as either a yantrik or navik.
Enrolled personnel of Indian Coast Guard are trained along with Indian Naval sailors at the naval training establishment INS Chilka. All training undertaken by Coast Guard personnel is the same as those undertaken by sailors in the Indian Navy. All personnel are trained in operation of weapons systems in cases of emergency.

Equipment

Current aircraft

Current vessels

Vessels belonging to the Indian Coast Guard bear the prefix "ICGS" – Indian Coast Guard Ship.

Former vessels

Vessels belonging to the Indian Coast Guard bear the prefix "ICGS" – Indian Coast Guard Ship.

Future of the Indian Coast Guard

Future vessels

The following is a table of vessel classes which are either under construction or planned, but have not yet entered service.
ClassOriginTypeCommission DisplacementPlannedComment
Reliance classFast patrol vesselJanuary 202114Contract was signed for $138 million
ICGS VarunaTraining vesselMay 20213,000 tons1