Indian Coast Guard
The Indian Coast Guard is a maritime law enforcement and search and rescue agency for India with jurisdiction over its territorial waters, including its contiguous zone and exclusive economic zone. It was started in February 1977 and formally established in August 1978 by the Coast Guard Act, 1978 of the Parliament of India. It operates under the Ministry of Defence.
The ICG works in close cooperation with the Indian Navy, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Revenue, and the Coastal Police of the State Police Forces, and the Central Armed 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 to destroy 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.
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, 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. In 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.
In July 1975, the committee submitted its recommendation for the establishment of the Indian Coast Guard under the Ministry of Defence. 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.
In February 1977, an interim Indian Coast Guard came into being, equipped with two small corvettes and five patrol boats transferred from the Navy. The duties and functions of the service were defined in the Coast Guard Act, which was passed by India's parliament in 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. In 1984, Vice Admiral Kamath proposed a five-year plan to develop the ICG into a potent force. 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 was 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 the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency. In 2006, the Indian Coast Guard conducted exercises with its Japanese and Korean counterparts.
After the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which the terrorists entered India from Pakistan via the sea route, the Indian government initiated a program to expand the ICG force, assets, and infrastructure for enhanced protection and surveillance of Indian waters.
The force aims to have 200 ships and 100 twin-engined aircraft by 2030 in its fleet. As of January 2025, ICG deploys 55 to 60 ships and 10 to 12 aircraft daily.
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:
- 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
- Offshore Security Coordination Committee – The Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard is the Chairman of OSCC, constituted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, of which the Flag Officer Defence Advisory Group is a member.
- National Maritime Search and Rescue Coordinating Authority – The Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard is the NMSARCA for executing/coordinating search and rescue missions
- Lead Intelligence Agency – 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
Director General Paramesh Sivamani is the 26th Director General of the Indian Coast Guard. The rank of Director General is equivalent to a Vice Admiral of Indian Navy.
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 divided into four regions. A fifth region, 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 A.K Harbola, TM |
| Eastern Seaboard | Visakapatanam |
| Coast Guard regions | Regional HQ location | Regional commander |
| North-West Region | Gandhinagar | IG T Sashi Kumar, TM |
| Western Region | Mumbai | IG Bhisham Sharma, PTM TM |
| Eastern Region | Chennai | IG Donny Michael, TM |
| North-East Region | Kolkata | IG IS Chauhan, TM |
| Andaman & Nicobar Region | Port Blair | IG Neeraj Tiwari, TM |
As of 2023, the Indian Coast Guard operates:
- 42 Coast Guard Stations
- 5 Coast Guard Air Stations
- 10 Coast Guard Air Enclaves
Organisation
Indian Coast Guard is responsible for the execution of Search and Rescue operations in the Indian Search and Rescue Region. To serve this purpose, ICG operates 3 Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres in Mumbai, Chennai and Port Blair and 36 Maritime Rescue Sub Centres, which operates under their respective MRCCs.
In November 2024, the Indian Coast Guard and the Telecommunications Consultants India laid the foundation of a full-fledged "Tier-3" Data Centre at Mahipalpur, Delhi. The construction will take 2 years. The project worth will be carried out by TCIL, Yotta Infrastructure, and Attero, a software solution company. This will help ICG for Command and Control over their 109 offices and 88 ships at once.
| Regional HQ | District HQ | Coast Guard Station |
| North-East Region CGRHQ Kolkata | CGRHQ | ICGS Kolkata |
| North-East Region CGRHQ Kolkata | CGRHQ | CGAE Kolkata |
| North-East Region CGRHQ Kolkata | DHQ-7 Paradip | ICGS Paradip |
| North-East Region CGRHQ Kolkata | DHQ-7 Paradip | ICGS Gopalpur |
| North-East Region CGRHQ Kolkata | DHQ-7 Paradip | CGAE Bhubaneswar |
| North-East Region CGRHQ Kolkata | DHQ-8 Haldia | ICGS Haldia |
| North-East Region CGRHQ Kolkata | DHQ-8 Haldia | ICGS Frazerganj |
| North-East Region CGRHQ Kolkata | DHQ-8 Haldia | CGAE Kolkata |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-5 Chennai | CGAS Chennai |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-5 Chennai | ICGS Chennai |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-6 Visakhapatnam | ICGS Visakhapatnam |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-6 Visakhapatnam | ICGS Kakinada |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-6 Visakhapatnam | ICGS Krishnapatnam |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-6 Visakhapatnam | ICGS Nizampatnam |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-6 Visakhapatnam | CGAE Visakhapatnam |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-13 Puducherry | ICGS Puducherry |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-13 Puducherry | CGAE Puducherry |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-13 Puducherry | ICGS Karaikal |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-16 Thoothukudi | ICGS Thoothukudi |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-16 Thoothukudi | ICGS Mandapam |
| Eastern Region CGRHQ Chennai | DHQ-16 Thoothukudi | CGAS Thoothukudi |
| Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port Blair | DHQ-14 Port Blair | ICGS Port Blair |
| Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port Blair | DHQ-14 Port Blair | CGAE Port Blair |
| Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port Blair | DHQ-14 Port Blair | ICGS Hutbay |
| Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port Blair | DHQ-9 Diglipur | ICGS Mayabunder |
| Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port Blair | DHQ-9 Diglipur | ICGS Diglipur |
| Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port Blair | DHQ-10 Campbell Bay | ICGS Campbell Bay |
| Andaman & Nicobar Region CGRHQ Port Blair | DHQ-10 Campbell Bay | ICGS Kamorta |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-3 New Mangaluru | ICGS Karwar |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-3 New Mangaluru | CGAE New Mangaluru |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-2 Mumbai | ICGS Murud Janjira |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-2 Mumbai | ICGS Ratnagiri |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-2 Mumbai | ICGS Dahanu |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-4 Kochi | ICGS Vizhinjam |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-4 Kochi | ICGS Beypore |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-4 Kochi | CGAE Kochi |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-11 Mormugao | ICGS Goa |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-11 Mormugao | CGAE Dabolim |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-12 Kavaratti | ICGS Kavaratti |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-12 Kavaratti | ICGS Minicoy |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-12 Kavaratti | ICGS Androth |
| Western Region CGRHQ Mumbai | DHQ-12 Kavaratti | CGAS Daman |
| North-West Region CGRHQ Gandhinagar | DHQ-1 Porbandar | ICGS Gandhinagar |
| North-West Region CGRHQ Gandhinagar | DHQ-1 Porbandar | ICGS Pipavav |
| North-West Region CGRHQ Gandhinagar | DHQ-1 Porbandar | ICGS Veraval |
| North-West Region CGRHQ Gandhinagar | DHQ-1 Porbandar | CGAE Porbandar |
| North-West Region CGRHQ Gandhinagar | DHQ-15 Okha | ICGS Mundra |
| North-West Region CGRHQ Gandhinagar | DHQ-15 Okha | ICGS Jakhau |
| North-West Region CGRHQ Gandhinagar | DHQ-15 Okha | ICGS Vadinar |
| North-West Region CGRHQ Gandhinagar | DHQ-15 Okha | ICGS Okha |