XI Corps (India)


The XI Corps of the Indian Army is based in Jalandhar and is a part of Western Command. XI Corps is also known as Vajra Corps.

History

XI Corps was raised to take command of the formations in the Punjab in 1950 as India reorganised its post-1947 army to meet the new threat of Pakistan. It was raised on March 1, 1950 at Ambala under the command of Lieutenant General Kalwant Singh. The corps headquarters was relocated to Jalandhar in July 1951.
To reduce the load of XI Corps, X Corps was formed at Bathinda on 1 July 1979, taking over south Punjab and north Rajasthan.

Formation sign

The Corps formation sign consists of the 'red-white-red background' depicting a corps of the Indian Army overlaid by a Vajra, the powerful thunderbolt weapon of Lord Indra, the symbol of sacrifice of the great sage Dadhichi, who voluntarily sacrificed his body to make the fiercest weapon from his thighbone.

Organisation

The corps consists of:

Operations

List of Commanders

RankNameAppointment DateLeft officeUnit of CommissionReferences
Lieutenant GeneralKalwant Singh1 March 19501st Punjab Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralS P P Thorat1955May 19571/14 Punjab Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralT B Henderson Brooks196219635th Maratha Light Infantry
Lieutenant GeneralJoginder Singh DhillonNovember 1963August 1966Bengal Sappers
Lieutenant GeneralPremindra Singh BhagatAugust 1966August 1970Bombay Sappers
Lieutenant GeneralNaveen Chand Rawlley1970197212th Frontier Force Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralOm Prakash MalhotraMay 1972July 1974Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant GeneralKrishnaswamy Gowri Shankar19841985Corps of Signals
Lieutenant GeneralV K Nayar198531 October 1987Parachute Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralBakshi Krishan Nath ChhibberJuly 1990September 19929th Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralVed Prakash MalikAugust 1992March 1994Sikh Light Infantry
Lieutenant GeneralH B KalaApril 1994Jat Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralVirendra Kumar SewalArmoured Corps
Lieutenant GeneralKamal DavarMarch 2000April 20017th Light Cavalry
Lieutenant GeneralShantonu ChoudhryApril 2001April 2002Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant GeneralKrishnamurthy NagarajApr 2002May 2003Maratha Light Infantry
Lieutenant GeneralS PattabhiramanMay 2003May 2004Bombay Sappers
Lieutenant GeneralParmendra Kumar SinghMay 2004May 2005Regiment of Artillery
Lieutenant GeneralMandhata SinghMay 2005April 20069th Gorkha Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralNoble ThamburajMay 2006September 2007Bombay Sappers
Lieutenant GeneralS S KumarOctober 2007August 2008Brigade of the Guards
Lieutenant GeneralVirender Singh TonkAugust 2008July 2009Rajput Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralRamesh Halgali24 July 2009August 2010Sikh Light Infantry
Lieutenant GeneralMunish SibalAugust 2010November 2011Rajputana Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralSanjeev MadhokNovember 2011March 2013Brigade of the Guards
Lieutenant GeneralAshwini Kumar BakshiMarch 2013July 2014Bihar Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralN P S HiraAugust 201431 July 2015Sikh Light Infantry
Lieutenant GeneralJagbir Singh Cheema21 August 201531 August 2016Sikh Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralB S Sahrawat1 September 20162 November 2017Kumaon Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralDushyant Singh2 November 20174 November 2018Maratha Light Infantry
Lieutenant GeneralArvind Dutta5 November 20185 November 2019Dogra Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralSanjeev Sharma6 November 20192 December 2020Rajputana Rifles
Lieutenant GeneralC B Ponnappa2 December 202010 February 2022Mahar Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralDevendra Sharma11 February 202215 May 202314th Horse (Scinde Horse)
Lieutenant GeneralVijay B Nair15 May 202330 June 2024Punjab Regiment
Lieutenant GeneralAjay Chandpuria1 July 2024IncumbentDogra Regiment