| Unit name | I Corps |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1965–present[1] |
| Country | India |
| Role | Strike Corps |
| Size | Corps |
| Command structure | Northern Command |
| Garrison | Mathura |
| Battles | Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 |
| Notable commanders | General Joginder Jaswant Singh General Vishwa Nath Sharma Lt Gen Sagat Singh Lt Gen Khem Karan Singh |
| Current commander | Lt Gen V Hariharan |
The I Corps is a military field formation of the Indian Army. The Corps is headquartered at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. It was raised on 1 April 1965. It was still being raised when it was despatched to the front in 1965. Raised as the First Strike Corps of the Indian Army, it was launched into operations in the Sialkot sector. The Corps conducted a counteroffensive during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. In the 1971 war against Pakistan, it took part in the Battle of Basantar.[2]
The corps conducts Exercise Parvat Prahaar (Mountain Strike) to maintain combat readiness in the northern sector along Line of Actual Control. The exercise which is conducted in high-altitude, rugged terrain conditions, includes tanks, artillery (including K-9 Vajra T), air-defence systems and other assets. The editions of the exercise are 2022 and 2024.[3][4]
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
Under Lt. Gen. K. K. Singh during 1971, the composition of the corps was:[5][6]
- X Sector
- 36th Infantry Division (8, 115 Brigades initially)
- 39th Infantry Division
- 54th Infantry Division
Present Day
In 2021, the Strike One Corps was shifted to Northern Command from the South Western Command to focus on Sino-Indian border in Ladakh.[7] According to reports, around 500 main battle tanks and 50,000 troops are deployed in Eastern Ladakh region.[4]
The I Corps created in 1965 and headquartered at Mathura, consists of the following formations:
- 4 RAPID Division (Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh), also called Red Eagle Division.[8]
- 6 Mountain Division (Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh) also called Garud Division
- 14 (Independent) Armoured Brigade, also called Black Chargers Brigade
The following were moved to direct command of South Western Command
- 33 Armoured Division (Hisar Military Station, Haryana), also called Dot On Target (DOT) Division,[14] consisting of –
- 33 Artillery Brigade
- 1 × Towed artillery Regiment (e.g. Howitzer),
- 1 × Self propelled artillery Regiment
- 1 × LT AD (Light Air Defence) artillery and was located at Faridkot & Ferozpur
- 39 Armoured Brigade (formerly 39th Mechanised Brigade)
- 57 Armoured Brigade (formerly 57th Mechanised Brigade)
- 88 Armoured Brigade (formerly 88th Mechanised Brigade).[15]
- 627th (Independent) Armoured Air Defence Brigade (formerly '627th (Independent) Mechanised Air Defence Brigade')
- 33 Artillery Brigade
- 42 Artillery Division (Bassi, Rajasthan), also called Strategic Striker Division.
List of General Officers Commanding
| Rank | Name | Appointment Date | Left office | Unit of Commission | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant General | Patrick Oswald Dunn | May 1965 | January 1967 | 3rd Gorkha Rifles | [16] |
| Jahangir Tehmursap Sataravala | January 1967 | August 1971 | 13th Frontier Force Rifles | ||
| Khem Karan Singh | August 1971 | November 1973 | 16th Light Cavalry | [17] | |
| Sagat Singh | November 1973 | November 1974 | 3rd Gorkha Rifles | ||
| D.K. Chandorkar | December 1974 | March 1978 | Rajputana Rifles | ||
| Jaswant Singh | March 1978 | January 1980 | Punjab Regiment | ||
| Tirath Singh Oberoi | January 1980 | August 1981 | Punjab Regiment, Parachute Regiment | ||
| Harish Chandra Dutta | August 1981 | August 1982 | 8th Gorkha Rifles | ||
| Anand Sarup | August 1982 | August 1984 | 8th Gorkha Rifles | [18] | |
| Vishwa Nath Sharma | October 1984 | March 1986 | 16th Light Cavalry | [19] | |
| Y.S. Tomar | March 1986 | June 1987 | The Grenadiers | ||
| R.N. Mahajan | June 1987 | December 1988 | Kumaon Regiment | [20] | |
| R. Sharma | December 1988 | January 1991 | 2nd Lancers | [21] | |
| V.K. Singh | January 1991 | April 1992 | Madras Regiment | [22] | |
| Y.M. Bammi | April 1992 | July 1993 | 4th Gorkha Rifles | ||
| A.S. Sandhu | July 1993 | April 1995 | Deccan Horse | ||
| Vijay Oberoi | April 1995 | June 1997 | Maratha Light Infantry | ||
| Rajendra Singh Kadyan | August 1997 | January 2001 | Rajputana Rifles | ||
| J.J. Singh | January 2001 | December 2002 | Maratha Light Infantry | [23] | |
| Tej S Pathak | December 2002 | May 2004 | Parachute Regiment | [24] | |
| Susheel Gupta | May 2004 | April 2006 | Jammu and Kashmir Rifles | [25] | |
| P.C. Katoch | April 2006 | October 2007 | Parachute Regiment | [26] | |
| Tejinder Singh | October 2007 | October 2008 | Brigade of the Guards | ||
| S.R. Ghosh | October 2008 | November 2009 | Brigade of The Guards | [27] | |
| A.K. Singh | November 2009 | April 2011 | 7th Light Cavalry | [28] | |
| Ashok Singh | May 2011 | August 2012 | Brigade of The Guards | [29] | |
| P.R. Kumar | August 2012 | August 2013 | Regiment of Artillery, Army Aviation Corps | [30] | |
| Ravindra Thogde | August 2013 | September 2014 | 1st Gorkha Rifles | [31] | |
| Ashok Bhim Shivane | September 2014 | October 2015 | 7th Light Cavalry | [32] | |
| Shokin Chauhan | 8 October 2015 | November 2016 | 11th Gorkha Rifles | [33] | |
| Ranbir Singh | 30 November 2016 | 29 December 2017 | Dogra Regiment | [34] | |
| Taranjit Singh | 29 December 2017 | 25 January 2019 | 65 Armoured Regiment | [35] | |
| Amardeep Singh Bhinder | 25 January 2019 | 3 April 2020 | Deccan Horse | [36] | |
| Codanda Poovaiah Cariappa | 4 April 2020 | 5 April 2021 | Rajputana Rifles | [37] | |
| Manoj Kumar Katiyar | 6 April 2021 | 30 April 2022 | Rajput Regiment | [38] | |
| Gajendra Joshi | 1 May 2022 | 08 June 2023 | Garhwal Rifles | [39] | |
| Sanjay Mitra | 09 June 2023 | 16 June 2025 | The Grenadiers | [40] | |
| V Hariharan | 17 June 2025 | Incumbent | Garhwal Rifles | [41] |
Notes
- ^ "Indian Army Corps 2001". www.orbat.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Archive of One Strike Corps of Indian Army in Mathura opens tomorrow". The Economic Times. 11 July 2018.
- ^ News Bureau, The Hindu (2022-09-10). "Army chief reviews Exercise Parvat Prahar in Ladakh" (in en-IN). The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- ^ "Army conducts 'Parvat Prahaar' exercise in Ladakh, focuses on high-altitude ops". India Today. 2024-08-07. Retrieved 2024-08-11.
- ^ National Defense University, Indian I Corps Archived 2008-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Gill, John H. "An Atlas of the 1971 India-Pakistan War: The Creation of Bangladesh". p. 85. Archived 7 November 2025 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Philip, Snehesh Alex (2021-04-12). "These are the key changes Army has made in Ladakh to counter China in summer". ThePrint. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
- ^ "Indian Army's oldest fighting formation 'Red Eagle' celebrates 75 years of valour". The Times of India. 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
- ^ "Ex-Servicemen Rally Organised". 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ "Inter-Command Football Championship 2019". 2019-05-01. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ "PPE kits prepared by SHGs in Kheri will be supplied to Army hospital in Lucknow: CDO". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 2020-04-03. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ "Know Your Army exhibition". 2006-01-11. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ "Army motivates youth at 'know your army'". The Times of India. 2019-01-12. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
- ^ "Bharat Rakshak :: Land Forces Site – Armoured Formations". bharat-rakshak.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- ^ "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Haryana"
- ^ "PIB press note". 1965-11-09. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
- ^ "Lt Gen Khem Karan Singh: An outstanding military leader". 2018-10-20. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
- ^ "Lt Gen Anand Sarup retires". 1987-03-29. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
- ^ "GENERAL V.N. SHARMA". Retrieved 2021-06-26.
- ^ "Lt Gen Mahajan appointed DCOAS". 1988-12-11. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
- ^ "Lt Gen R Sharma is new DCOAS". 1991-08-02. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Know Your Army". 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Gen J J Singh new GOC-in-C of Western Command". The Times of India. 2004-02-01. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Gen Vij takes over tomorrow". 2002-12-29. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "GOC-in-C on two-day city visit". 2006-03-15. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Lt Gen Katoch visits Cantonment". 2006-05-10. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Lt Gen SR Ghosh to be GOC-in-C of Western Command". The Times of India. 2009-11-12. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Cover Story : Mutual Respect". 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Lt Gen Ashok Singh takes over as Southern Army commander". 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Army Aviation Corps Colonel Commandant". Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "LIEUTENANT GENERAL RAVI THODGE TAKES OVER REINS OF 1 CORPS". 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Lt Gen A B Shivane, PVSM, AVSM, VSM". Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Lt Gen Shokin Chauhan". 2019-10-05. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Lt General Ranbir Singh promoted to GOC Strike 1 Corps, AK Bhatt new DGMO". 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Lt General Taranjit Singh assumes Command Of Strike 1". 2017-12-29. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Amardeep Bhinder takes command of Strike One Corps Mathura". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 2019-01-31. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
- ^ "Lieutenant general C P Cariappa takes over Mathura based command of first strike corps". The Times of India. 2020-04-03. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
- ^ "Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar takes charge of Mathura-based Strike 1 Corps". Outlook (India). Retrieved 2021-04-05.
- ^ "Lieutenant General Gajendra Joshi assumed the command of the prestigious STRIKEONE today". 2022-05-09. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
- ^ "Lt Gen Sanjay Mitra takes over as Commander of Strike 1 Corps". The Print. 2023-06-09. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
- ^ "Lt Gen V Hariharan took over command of StrikeOne from Lt Gen Sanjay Mitra.". x (formerly known as Twitter). 2025-06-17. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
References
- Richard A. Renaldi and Ravi Rikhe, 'Indian Army Order of Battle,' Orbat.com for Tiger Lily Books: A division of General Data LLC, ISBN 978-0-9820541-7-8, 2011.
- www.globalsecurity.org