Vice Admiral Adhir Arora, AVSM, NM, Chief Hydrographer to the Govt. of India

Vice Admiral Adhir Arora, AVSM, NM took over as Chief Hydrographer on 01 Oct 21. The Flag Officer has had a career spanning over three decades with nearly two decades onboard various Ships.

Commissioned in the Executive branch of the Indian Navy in 1985, he specialized in Hydrography and has undertaken hydrographic surveys in and across India and IOR. Whilst in command of INS Sutlej, their ship was the first to arrive off Galle Port in Sri Lanka post Tsunami. He was instrumental in clearing the port of all obstructions thereby opening it for Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief operations. He also has the rare distinction of undertaking foreign co-operation surveys in Mauritius (2010-12), Seychelles and Kenya whilst in command of INS Sarvekshak. These include high sensitive marine ecological areas, continental shelf and pioneer surveys. He was also the co-chair for the 3rd Indo – Mauritius hydrographic cooperation meeting in 2008.

In ashore capacity, he was been responsible for maritime boundaries aspects including representing India in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague, Netherlands during the arbitration with Bangladesh. He also steered the ship building project of new construction ships with state of art systems. He is a graduate of NDA, Khadakvasla and alumni of DSSC, Wellington. During his Naval Higher Command Course he was also awarded the M.Phil from Mumbai University. He has authored various papers and has been taking keen interest in evolving scenario on maritime boundary issues which would become a significant topic especially with the ruling of PCA in South China Sea.

Vice Admiral Adhir Arora is married to Mrs Tanvi Arora who is a homemaker and their son is a Chemical Engineer.