Vice Admiral B Sivakumar, AVSM, VSM has assumed charge as the 40 th
Chief of Materiel on 01 Nov 2025. He is an alumnus of 70 th Course, NDA and
was commissioned as an Electrical Officer into the Indian Navy on 01 Jul
1987. The Flag Officer holds Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering from
IIT Chennai, is a post graduate in Higher Defence Management from Osmania
University, MPhil from Madras University and is an alumnus of National
Defence College. During his distinguished and illustrious service of over 38
years, the Flag Officer has held various key appointments in the Naval
Headquarters, HQ ATVP, Naval Dockyards and Command Headquarters. He
has served onboard frontline warships, Indian navy Ships Ranjit, Kirpan and
Akshay and has commanded the premier Electrical Training Base, INS
Valsura.
The Admiral holds the rare distinction of being at the helm of affairs of
both the key Electrical Directorates of Weapons Equipment and Electrical
Engineering at NHQ and has served in both Naval Dockyards in East and
West coasts. He has deep experience in many diverse fields, in technologies,
projects, as well as Technical Administration. As a Flag Officer, he has served
as Additional Director General (Tech) Project Seabird, Chief Staff Officer
(Tech) at HQWNC and Admiral Superintendent of Naval Dockyard, Mumbai.
On completion of his tenure as the Assistant Chief of Materiel (Information
Technology & Systems) at Naval Headquarters, he was promoted to the rank
of Vice Admiral and appointed as Programme Director, HQ ATVP followed by
Controller of Warship Production & Acquisition and Director General Naval
Projects at Visakhapatnam. In recognition of his distinguished service, the
Admiral has been awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal and Ati Vishisht Seva
Medal.
Vice Admiral B Sivakumar, AVSM, VSM takes over as Chief of Materiel
from Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh, AVSM, VSM who hands over the baton
on completion of over 39 years of glorious service. Well known as
distinguished leader and a thorough professional Flag Officer of the Indian
Navy, Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh had displayed a fine combination of
professional excellence and leadership to steer the Navy technically towards
being future ready and ensuring that Indian Naval Platforms are combat
worthy and capable of undertaking full spectrum of operations. The highest
readiness of Naval Assets during Operation Sindoor over prolonged
deployment, is a testimony to his foresight, planning and leadership.