About Indian Coast Guard
The Indian Coast Guard is a multi-mission organization, conducting round-the-year real-life operations at sea. Despite being relatively small, it has a wide range of task capabilities for both surface and air operations.
The organization is headed by the Director General Indian Coast Guard (DGICG) exercising his overall command and superintendence from the Coast Guard Headquarters (CGHQ) located at New Delhi. At CGHQ, he is assisted by four Deputy Director Generals of the rank of Inspector General, and other senior officers heading various staff divisions.
For effective command and control, the Maritime Zones of India are divided into five Coast Guard Regions, namely, North-West, West, East, North-East and Andaman & Nicobar, with the respective Regional Headquarters located at Gandhinagar, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Port Blair. The Coast Guard Regions are commanded by Officers of the rank of Inspector General.
The regions are further divided into twelve Coast Guard ‘Districts’, one each for the nine coastal states on the mainland, two in the Andaman & Nicobar Region, and one at Kavaratti in the Lakshadweep and Minicoy Islands. Each Coast Guard District comprises of one or more Coast Guard Stations. In addition, there are Coast Guard Air Stations (CGAS) and Air Enclaves (CGAE) for air operations from various locations along the coastline.
The Regional Headqaurters (North-West) at Gandhinagar exclusively covers the strategically important maritime state of Gujarat. The state has its District Headquarters at Porbandar. This District, commissioned in 1984, is supported by stations at Veraval, Mundra, Okha and Jakhau. Dornier aircraft and Advanced Light Helicopters operating from Porandar, provide air-support to this region.