XII Corps (India)

XII Corps is a corps of the Indian Army and one of the two corps in the Pune-based Southern Command.

XII Corps
Active1987–Present
CountryIndia
BranchIndian Army
TypeArmy Corps
SizeCorps
Part ofArmy Southern Command
Garrison/HQJodhpur
Nickname(s)Konark Corps (Desert Corps)
Commanders
Current
commander		Lieutenant General Mohit Malhotra, SM, VSM
Notable
commanders		Lt Gen A K Chatterjee
Indian Army Corps (1915 - Present)
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Formation

With two combat divisions on the order of battle of Southern Command and increasing operational importance of the desert sector, by January 1987, a Corps Headquarters was sanctioned. HQ 12 Corps was raised at Jodhpur during the volatile days of Operation Trident.[1] The corps, which came into existence on the auspicious day of Maha Shivaratri on February 26, 1987 is charged with protection of the desert sectors of the country falling in Rajasthan and Gujarat states and was raised under Lieutenant General A K Chatterjee as the first General Officer Commanding (GOC). Also referred to as Desert Corps within the army, the corps adopted Konark as its formation insignia after the Konark Sun Temple of Puri as a symbolic representation of the radiation of the sun in eight cardinal directions, thereby establishing a spiritual link with the Sun City - Jodhpur.[2]

Composition
Lieutenant General PS Minhas, GOC Konark Corps addressing Officers of 77th DSSC Course at Jodhpur Military Station, 26 September 2021. The formation signs of the corps, divisions and brigades can be seen in the background.

XII corps currently consists of:[1]

  • 11 Infantry Division (Golden Katar Division) headquartered at Ahmedabad, Gujarat
  • 12 Infantry Division (Battle Axe Division) headquartered at Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The 140 Armoured Brigade forms part of this division and has two regiments equipped with Arjun tanks.
  • 75 (Independent) Infantry Brigade (Bald Eagle Brigade) at Bhuj, Gujarat.[3]
  • 4 (Independent) Armoured Brigade (Black Mace Brigade)[4]
  • 340 (Independent) Mechanised Brigade (earlier 34th Independent Infantry Brigade) (Amphibious)[5]

Humanitarian assistance

The corps has been intimately involved in providing succor to citizens of India in times of natural calamities such as earthquakes and floods most noteworthy being Bhuj earthquake, floods in Rajasthan and Gujarat as well as the recent floods in southern state of Kerala.[6]

List of General Officer Commanding
Name Rank Appointment Date Left Office Unit of Commission References
AK Chatterjee Lieutenant General February 1987 February 1988 Sikh Light Infantry
R Narasimhan April 1988 May 1990 Jat Regiment
YN Sharma May 1990 February 1992 The Grenadiers
Moti Dar March 1992 December 1992 Poona Horse
HM Khanna January 1994 August 1996 Gorkha Rifles
PS Joshi September 1996 January 1999 8th Gorkha Rifles
MA Gurbaxani January 1999 March 2001 Rajput Regiment
Hari Prasad March 2001 August 2002 Maratha Light Infantry
R Subramanyam August 2002 December 2003 Corps of Engineers
KS Jamwal December 2003 April 2005 Regiment of Artillery [7]
PR Gangadharan April 2006 September 2006 Maratha Light Infantry [8]
SPS Dhillon September 2006 January 2008 Regiment of Artillery [9]
SN Handa January 2008 December 2008 3rd Gorkha Rifles [10]
AM Verma December 2008 February 2010 Rajput Regiment [11]
Narendra Singh February 2010 June 2011 Maratha Light Infantry [12]
Philip Campose 3 July 2011 August 2012 Mechanised Infantry Regiment [13]
MMS Rai August 2012 August 2013 Corps of Engineers [14]
GS Katoch August 2013 1 September 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles [15]
Bobby Mathews 1 September 2014 10 October 2015 Kumaon Regiment [16]
VP Singh October 2015 November 2016 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry [17]
Podali Shankar Rajeshwar November 2016 November 2017 Regiment of Artillery [18]
Rajni Kant Jagga November 2017 November 2018 1st Horse (Skinner's Horse) [19]
VS Sreenivas 19 November 2018 10 February 2020 The Garhwal Rifles [20]
Anil Puri 11 February 2020 13 February 2021 Corps of Engineers [21]
PS Minhas 14 February 2021 06 March 2022 Central India Horse [22]
Rakesh Kapoor 07 March 2022 08 June 2023 Armoured Corps [23][24]
Mohit Malhotra 09 June 2023 Incumbent Armoured Corps [25]

References
  1. "12 Corps / XII Corps".
  2. "Desert Corps of Army celebrates Raising Day". 27 February 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  3. "Army exposition 'Armed Forces for masses' by Bald Eagle Brigade at Bhuj, Gujarat". 14 August 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  4. "Indian Army conducts fire power display at Pokhran, showcases proficiency and preparedness". The Economic Times. 22 March 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  5. "Army and navy plan to set up a marine brigade". 9 June 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  6. "KONARK CORPS". Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  7. "Lt Gen Kapoor to be new VCOAS; Panag, Jamwal to head N, E Cmds". 26 December 2006. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  8. "Lieutenant General PR Ganagadharan to take over as new Military Secretary". 29 September 2006. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  9. "Book on Customs & Etiquettes in the Services Released". 3 September 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  10. "Defence Minister in Forward Areas". 1 March 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  11. "Appointments". 1 February 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  12. "Lt Gen Campose is 12 Corps Commander". 6 March 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  13. "Lt Gen Campose new General Officer Commanding of Konark Corps". The Times of India. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  14. "Lt Gen MMS Rai takes over as GOC Desert Corps". 9 August 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  15. "Joint Forces Expedition Augmenting Synergy". 1 April 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  16. "LT GEN BOBBY MATHEWS, AVSM**, VSM". Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  17. "Konark Corps held Ex-Servicemen Rally at Setrawa (Shergarh) today. GOC of Corps, Lt Gen VP Singh was Chief Guest". 10 September 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  18. "Insight to Winds of Change In 12 Corps Dental Unit". 1 March 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  19. "Gandhinagar: Army organises special health camp for veterans". The Times of India. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  20. "ले. जनरल श्रीनिवास कोणार्क कोर के नए कोर कमांडर". Dainik Bhaskar (in Hindi). 20 November 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  21. MoD, PRO Jaipur (11 February 2020). "Lt Gen Anil Puri took over the command of #KonarkCorps #SouthernCommand #IndianArmy today. He took over the reins of Konark Corps from Lt Gen VS Sreenivas. @SpokespersonMoD @adgpi @PIBJaipur @PIB_Indiapic.twitter.com/qKQmynThi5". @PRODefRjsthn. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  22. "Major reshuffle in Army, Lt Gen Shantanu Dayal to take charge as Deputy Chief of Staff". 1 January 2021.
  23. kapoor, rakesh. "Lt gen rakesh kapoor takes over 12 corps".
  24. "Lt Gen Rakesh Kapoor took over as the General Officer Commanding of Desert Corps". 7 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  25. "Lt Gen Mohit Malhotra took over as General Officer Commanding of Desert Corps". 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.


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