Indian Coast Guard

Indian Coast Guard
Indian Coast Guard
	Indian Coast Guard crest
	Racing stripe
	Ensign
Abbreviation	ICG
Motto	वयम् रक्षामः (Sanskrit); Vayam Rakṣāmaḥ (ISO)[1]; We protect
Agency overview
Formed	18 August 1978
Employees	13,842 sanctioned strength (2018–19)[2]
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	India
Constituting instrument	The Coast Guard Act, 1978;
Specialist jurisdiction	Coastal patrol, marine border protection, marine search and rescue.;
Operational structure
Headquarters	Indian Coast Guard Headquarters, New Delhi
Agency executives	Rakesh Pal, PTM, TM[3], Director General; S Paramesh, PTM, TM, Additional Director General, Indian Coast Guard; KR Suresh, PTM, TM[4], Coast Guard Commander (Western Seaboard);
Parent agency	Ministry of Defence
Facilities
Boats	3 pollution control vessels; 27 offshore patrol vessels; 45 fast patrol vessels; 82 patrol boats; 14 patrol craft; 18 hovercraft;
Planes	77 aircraft[5]
Notables
Anniversary	Coast Guard Day: 1 February;
Website
	indiancoastguard.gov.in

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency of India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. It was formally established on 1 February 1977 by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 of the Parliament of India.[6] It operates under the Ministry of Defence.[7]

The Coast Guard works in close cooperation with the Indian Navy, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Revenue (Customs), and the Central Armed Police Forces, and the State Police Services.

History

The establishment of the Indian Coast Guard was first proposed by the Indian Navy to provide non-military maritime services to the nation.[8] 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 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.[8]

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.[8]

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.[6]

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.[8]

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 INS Prahar (K98) of the Indian Navy, and apprehended.[9] It was the first successful prosecution of armed pirates in over a century.

Indian Coast Guard ship and helicopter during the Search and Rescue Workshop and Exercise (SAREX), 2014

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 the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA). 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.[10]

Present scenario

Current role

Coast Guard DHQ-4 Headquarters in Kochi, Kerala

The Indian Coast Guard's motto is "वयम रक्षामः" (Vayam Rakshamah), which translates from Sanskrit as "We Protect".

Missions of Indian Coast Guard:[11]

Safety and protection of artificial islands, offshore terminals and other installations
Protection and assistance to fishermen and mariners at sea
Preservation and protection of marine ecology and environment including pollution control
Assistance to the Department of Customs and other authorities in anti-smuggling operations
Law enforcement in territorial as well as international waters
Scientific data collection and support
National defence during hostilities (under the operational control of the Indian Navy)

Additional responsibilities of the Indian Coast Guard:[12]

Offshore Security Coordination Committee (OSCC) – The Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard is the Chairman of OSCC constituted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), of which the Flag Officer Defence Advisory Group is a member.
National Maritime Search and Rescue Coordinating Authority (NMSARCA) – The Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard is the NMSARCA for executing / coordinating search and rescue (SAR) missions
Lead Intelligence Agency (LIA) – For coastal and sea borders
Coastal Security – The Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard is the commander of coastal command and is responsible for overall coordination between central and state agencies in all matters relating to coastal security

Leadership and organisation

The Indian Coast Guard organisation is headed by the Director-General (DG ICG) who is located at Coast Guard Headquarters (CGHQ), New Delhi. At CGHQ, he is assisted by the Additional Director General Coast Guard (ADGCG) of the rank of ADG, four Deputy Director-Generals of the rank of Inspector-General, and other senior officers heading various staff divisions. The current Director-General is Rakesh Pal, PTM, TM.[13]

Director-General of Indian Coast Guard is equivalent to Vice Admiral of Indian Navy.[14]

The Indian Coast Guard has the Western and Eastern Seaboard, both commanded by three-star officers designated Coast Guard Commander Western Seaboard and Coast Guard Commander Eastern Seaboard. The seaboards are in turn divided into four regions. The Andaman & Nicobar Region reports directly to the DGICG. 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 Seaboards	HQ location	Seaboard Commander
Western Seaboard	Mumbai	ADG KR Suresh, PTM, TM
Eastern Seaboard	Chennai

Coast Guard regions	Regional HQ location	Regional commander
Western Region (W)	Mumbai	IG MV Baadkar, TM
Eastern Region (E)	Chennai	IG Anand Prakash Badola, TM
North-East Region (NE)	Kolkata	IG IS Chauhan, TM
Andaman & Nicobar Region (A&N)	Port Blair	IG B Sharma, TM
North-West Region (NW)	Gandhinagar	IG AK Harbola, TM

As of 2023, the Indian Coast Guard operates:[15]

42 Coast Guard Stations
5 Coast Guard Air Stations
10 Coast Guard Air Enclaves

Organization

There are currently 42 Coast Guard stations which have been established along the coastline of the country.[16]

Regional HQ	District HQ	Coast Guard Station
North-East Region (NE) CGRHQ Kolkata	DHQ-7 Paradip	CGAE Bhubaneswar
	DHQ-7 Paradip	ICGS Gopalpur
	DHQ-8 Haldia	ICGS Frazerganj
		ICGS Kolkata
		CGAE Kolkata
Eastern Region (E) CGRHQ Chennai	DHQ-5 Chennai	CGAS Chennai
	DHQ-5 Chennai	ICGS Chennai
	DHQ-6 Visakhapatnam	ICGS Visakhapatnam
		ICGS Kakinada
		ICGS Krishnapatnam
		ICGS Nizampatnam
		CGAE Visakhapatnam (Proposed)[17][18]
	DHQ-13 Puducherry	ICGS Puducherry
	DHQ-13 Puducherry	ICGS Karaikal
	DHQ-16 Thoothukudi	ICGS Thoothukudi[19]
		ICGS Mandapam
		CGAS Thoothukudi (Land acquisition in-progress)[20][21]
Andaman & Nicobar Region (A&N) CGRHQ Port Blair
	DHQ-14 Port Blair	ICGS Port Blair
		CGAE Port Blair
		ICGS Hutbay
	DHQ-9 Diglipur	ICGS Mayabunder[22]
	DHQ-9 Diglipur	ICGS Diglipur
	DHQ-10 Campbell Bay	ICGS Campbell Bay
	DHQ-10 Campbell Bay	ICGS Kamorta
Western Region (W) CGRHQ Mumbai	DHQ-3 New Mangaluru	ICGS Karwar[23]
	DHQ-3 New Mangaluru	CGAE New Mangaluru[24]
	DHQ-2 Mumbai	ICGS Murud Janjira
		ICGS Ratnagiri
		ICGS Dahanu
	DHQ-4 Kochi	ICGS Vizhinjam
		ICGS Beypore
		CGAE Kochi
	DHQ-11 Mormugao	ICGS Goa
	DHQ-11 Mormugao	CGAE Dabolim
	DHQ-12 Kavaratti	ICGS Kavaratti
		ICGS Minicoy
		ICGS Androth
		CGAS Daman
North-West Region (NW) CGRHQ Gandhinagar		ICGS Gandhinagar
	DHQ-1 Porbandar	ICGS Pipavav
		ICGS Jakhau
		ICGS Mundra
		ICGS Veraval
		ICGS Vadinar
		ICGS Okha
		CGAE Porbandar

Personnel

Indian Coast Guard personnel with NWU Type-1 camo replacing the "Blue working uniform" as worn by a personnel in right

Officer rank structure

A table showing the rank structure of Coast Guard officers with those of the other Indian armed services.[25]

Indian Coast Guard Ranks	Indian Army Ranks	Indian Navy Ranks	Indian Air Force Ranks
Director-General /Additional Director-General	Lieutenant General	Vice Admiral	Air Marshal
Inspector-General	Major General	Rear Admiral	Air Vice Marshal
Deputy Inspector-General	Brigadier	Commodore	Air Commodore
Commandant (Level 13-Pay Scale)	Colonel	Captain	Group Captain
Commandant (Junior Grade)	Lt Colonel	Commander	Wing Commander
Deputy Commandant	Major	Lt Commander	Squadron Leader
Assistant Commandant (2 Years)	Captain	Lieutenant	Flight Lieutenant
Assistant Commandant	Lieutenant	Sub Lieutenant	Flying Officer

Coast Guard officers

The Coast Guard Marching Contingent passes through the Rajpath, on the occasion of the 68th Republic Day Parade 2017

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.[26]

General-Duty Officers

The command of ships at sea can only be exercised by officers of the General-Duty (GD) 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 (COMDIS) and Commander of Coast Guard Region (COMCG) 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 (OPV) 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.[6]

Enrolled personnel

Enrolled personnel in the Coast Guard serve as either a yantrik (technician) or navik (sailor).[27]

Yantriks are responsible for operating and maintaining mechanical, electrical or aeronautical equipment and systems on board the Coast Guard vessels and aircraft.
Naviks may further serve in the General-Duty or Domestic branches. The General-Duty naviks serve as sailors, weapons systems operators, communication specialists, divers, etc. or in specific maritime or aviation support roles. Domestic branch naviks serve in roles such as stewards, cooks, etc. on board Coast Guard vessels.

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.

Rank insignia

Officers

Rank group	General/flag officers										Senior officers						Junior officers								Officer cadet
Indian Coast Guard[28]
Indian Coast Guard[28]					Director general	Additional director general	Inspector general		Deputy inspector general (3-year seniority)		Deputy inspector general		Commandant	Commandant (Junior Grade)	Deputy commandant		Assistant commandant		Assistant commandant (under probation)						Assistant commandant (after phase II)

Other ranks

Rank group	PBORs										PBORs												Enlisted
Indian Coast Guard[28]																																			No insignia
Indian Coast Guard[28]	Pradhan Adhikari Pradhan Sahayak Engineer						Uttam Adhikari Uttam Sahayak Engineer		Adhikari Sahayak Engineer Pradhan Yantrik		Pradhan Navik Yantrik Uttam Yantrik												Uttam Navik												Navik

Equipment

Current aircraft

Aircraft	Origin	Type	Variant	In service	Notes
Maritime patrol
Dornier 228	Germany India	Reconnaissance	101/201[29]	36[30]	2 on order[31]
Helicopters
HAL Dhruv	India	Utility	Mk. I	4[32][33]	9 more Mk.III will replace the HAL Chetak in service.[34]
HAL Dhruv	India	Utility	Mk. III	16[35][34]	9 more Mk.III will replace the HAL Chetak in service.[34]
HAL Chetak	France India	Utility		17[36]

Current vessels

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

Class	Origin	Type	Commissioned	Displacement	Vessels	Comment
Pollution control vessels (3)
Samudra class	India	Pollution control vessel	2010–present	3,960 tons	3
Offshore patrol vessels (27)
Samarth class	India	Offshore patrol vessel	2015–present	2,400 tons	11
Sankalp class	India	Offshore patrol vessel	2008–present	2,325 tons	2
Samar class	India	Offshore patrol vessel	1996–present	2,300 tons	4
Vikram class	India	Offshore patrol vessel	2018–present	2,140 tons	7
Vishwast class	India	Offshore patrol vessel	2010–present	1,800 tons	3
Fast Patrol vessels (44)
Aadesh class	India	Fast patrol vessel	2013–present	290 tons	20
Rajshree class	India	Fast patrol vessel	2012–present	275 tons	13	1 additional unit built for the Seychelles Coast Guard.[37][38]
Rani Abbaka class	India	Fast patrol vessel	2009–present	275 tons	5
Sarojini Naidu class	India	Fast patrol vessel	2002–present	270 tons	6	1 unit decommissioned on 27 April 2023. 2 additional units built for the National Coast Guard of Mauritius.
Patrol boats (82)
Bharati class	India	Patrol boat	2013–present	107 tons	6	9 more to be commissioned
L&T class	India	Fast interceptor boat	2012–present	90 tons	54
ABG class	India	Fast interceptor boat	2000–present	90 tons	13
Patrol craft (14)
Timblo class	India	Interceptor craft	2010–present	7 tons	10
Bristol class	India United Kingdom	Interceptor craft	2004–present	5 tons	4
Hovercraft (18)
Griffon class	United Kingdom	Hovercraft	2000–present	27 tons	18	6 H-181(Griffon 8000TD) and 12 H-187(Griffon 8000TD)[33]

Former vessels