Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) (1947-2021)

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Published Aug 14, 2026 Updated Aug 14, 2026 1 min read

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Name	Maha Vir Chakra (MVC)
Award For	Exceptional gallantry, indomitable courage or supreme sacrifice in the presence of the enemy on land, sea or air
Award By	Republic of India
First Award	27th October 1947
First Awardee	Lieutenant Colonel Dewan Ranjit Rai
Last Award	26th January 2021
Last Awardee	Colonel B. Santosh Babu
Total Awarded	219
Status	active
Official URL	https://www.warb-mha.gov.in/

About Maha Vir Chakra (MVC)

The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) is the second highest military gallantry award in India, after the Param Vir Chakra. It is given to soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces for showing exceptional bravery during war or in battle situations.

This award can be given to members of the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force. It is also awarded to reserve forces and sometimes even civilians who show great courage in support of military operations.

History of Maha Vir Chakra (MVC)

The Maha Vir Chakra was established on 26 January 1950, the same day when India became a republic. However, it was made effective from 15 August 1947, the day India got independence. The award was first given for bravery shown during the Indo-Pak war of 1947–48. Many soldiers who fought bravely in this war were honored with the Maha Vir Chakra. Since then, the award has been given in many wars and military operations, such as: Indo-Pak wars (1965 and 1971), Kargil War (1999) and Other military missions and operations.

Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) (1947-2021) Winners List

This Winners List features 219 winners of the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC), from 1947 to 2021.

Recipient Name	Award Date	Military Category

Lieutenant Colonel Dewan Ranjit Rai	27 October 1947	Army Officer
Sepoy Dewan Singh	3 November 1947	Army Soldier
Naik Chand Singh	22 November 1947	Army Soldier
Subedar Bishan Singh	12 December 1947	Army Soldier
Jemadar Nand Singh	12 December 1947	Army Soldier
Colonel Thakur Prithi Chand	15 August 1948	Army Officer
Shri Ram Chandar	26 January 1950	Civilian
Major Yadunath Singh	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Inder Jit Singh Butalia	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Khushal Chand	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Brigadier Mohammad Usman	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Man Mohan Khanna	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Brigadier Rajendra Singh	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Major Annavi Krishnaswamy Ramaswamy	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Sepoy Man Singh	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Havildar Daya Ram	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Colonel Kishan Singh Rathor	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Subedar Major Krishna Sonawane	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Major Sardar Malkit Singh Brar	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Major Satyapal Chopra	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Hari Chand	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Sepoy Hari Singh	17 March 1948	Army Soldier
Subedar Gurdial Singh	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Major General Rajinder Singh Sparrow	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Brigadier Arvind Nilkhanth Jatar	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Naik Shishpal Singh	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Rifleman Dhonkal Singh	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Lieutenant Colonel Kaman Singh	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Jemadar Lal Bahadur Khattri	26 January 1952	Army Soldier
Jemadar Hardev Singh	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Naik Nar Singh	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Naik Raju	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Subedar Chuni Ram	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Civilian Porter Coolie Mohammad Ismail	26 January 1950	Civilian
Sepoy Amar Singh	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Major Chewang Rinchen	1 July 1948	Army Officer
Naik Pritam Singh	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Jemadar Sampooran Singh	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Lieutenant Colonel Sher Jung Thapa	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Havildar Fateh Singh	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Lieutenant Colonel Harbans Singh Virk	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Anil Krishna Barat	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Lance Naik Rabi Lal Thapa	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Lieutenant Colonel Dharam Singh	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Major General Anant Singh Pathania	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Havildar Ram Parshad Gurung	26 January 1950	Army Soldier
Jemadar Lal Singh	15 November 1948	Army Soldier
Brigadier Kanhya Lal Atal	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Captain Dara Dinshaw Mistry	26 January 1950	Army Officer
Air Commodore Mehar Singh	26 January 1950	Indian Air Force Officer
Air Marshal Minoo Merwan Engineer	26 January 1950	Indian Air Force Officer
Wing Commander Sidney Basil Norohna	26 January 1950	Indian Air Force Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Arcot Govindaraj Rangaraj	24 March 1951	Army Officer
Major Nirode Baran Banerjea	1 March 1951	Army Officer
Air Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar	8 December 1951	Indian Air Force Officer
Lance Naik Ran Bahadur Gurung Also won: Kirti Chakra (KC)	6 December 1961	Army Soldier
Naik Mahabir Thapa	16 December 1961	Army Soldier
Naik Chain Singh	1 January 1962	Army Soldier
Subedar Kanshi Ram	10 October 1962	Army Soldier
Havildar Sarup Singh	10 October 1962	Army Soldier
Lieutenant Colonel Bhagwan Dutt Dogra	19 October 1962	Army Officer
Second Lieutenant Gopala Krishna Venkatesa Prasanna Rao	20 October 1962	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Gurdial Singh	20 October 1962	Army Officer
Captain Mahabir Prasad	20 October 1962	Army Officer
Major Mahander Singh Chaudhary	20 October 1962	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Sardul Singh Randhawa	20 October 1962	Army Officer
Brigadier Sher Pratap Singh Shrikent	20 October 1962	Army Officer
Subedar Sonam Stopdhan	20 October 1962	Army Soldier
General Tapishwar Narain Raina	20 October 1962	Army Officer
Naib Subedar Rabi Lal Thapa	20 October 1962	Army Soldier
Major Ajit Singh	21 October 1962	Army Officer
Major General Bejoy Mohan Bhattacharjea	22 October 1962	Army Officer
Sepoy Kewal Singh	25 October 1962	Army Soldier
Havildar Satigian Phunchok	26 October 1962	Army Soldier
Jemadar Isht Tundup	27 October 1962	Army Soldier
Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat	27 October 1962	Army Soldier
Major Shyamal Dev Goswami	17 November 1962	Army Officer
Lieutenant Ved Prakash Trehan	18 November 1962	Army Officer
Major General Sushil Kumar Mathur	29 December 1962	Army Officer
Major Baljit Singh Randhawa	15 April 1965	Army Officer
Captain Chander Narain Singh	17 May 1965	Army Officer
Major General Swarup Singh Kalaan	5 August 1965	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Ram Dharam Dass Hira	5 August 1965	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Zorawar Chand Bakshi	5 August 1965
Colonel Gurbans Singh Sangha	5 August 1965	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Ranjit Singh Dayal	15 August 1965	Army Officer
Major Bhaskar Roy	25 August 1965	Army Officer
Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath (2nd)	1 September 1965	Indian Air Force Officer
Air Commodore William Macdonald Goodman	1 September 1965	Indian Air Force Officer
Subedar Ajit Singh	1 September 1965	Army Soldier
Brigadier Desmond Hayde	6 September 1965	Army Officer
Major General Gurbaksh Singh	6 September 1965	Army Officer
Major General Rajinder Singh Sparrow (2nd)	6 September 1965	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Har Krishen Sibal	6 September 1965	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Khem Karan Singh	6 September 1965	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Narindra Nath Khanna	6 September 1965	Army Officer
Wing Commander Padmanabha Gautam	6 September 1965	Indian Air Force Officer
Air Marshal Prem Pal Singh	6 September 1965	Indian Air Force Officer
Brigadier Raghubir Singh	6 September 1965	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Harbans Lal Mehta	7 September 1965	Army Officer
Naib Subedar Naubat Ram	8 September 1965	Army Soldier
Brigadier Thomas Krishnan Theogaraj	8 September 1965	Army Officer
Major General Mohindar Singh	8 September 1965	Army Officer
Brigadier Sampuran Singh	9 September 1965	Army Officer
Major General Salim Caleb	9 September 1965	Army Officer
Major General Madan Mohan Singh Bakshi	10 September 1965	Army Officer
General Arun Shridhar Vaidya	11 September 1965	Army Officer
Major Asaram Tyagi	16 September 1965	Army Officer
Captain Kapil Singh Thapa	21 September 1965	Army Officer
Brigadier Pagadala Kuppuswamy Nandagopal	21 September 1965	Army Officer
Subedar Tikabahadur Thapa	28 September 1965	Army Soldier
Major Bhupinder Singh	30 September 1965	Army Officer
Naik Darshan Singh	11 October 1965	Army Soldier
Captain Gautam Mubayi	2 November 1965	Army Officer
Brigadier Sant Singh	2 November 1965	Army Officer
Major Harbhajan Singh	2 November 1965	Army Officer
Brigadier Rai Singh Yadav	11 September 1967	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Anand Sarup	11 September 1967	Army Officer
Brigadier Arun Bhimrao Harolikar	1 October 1967	Army Officer
Major General Anthony Herold Edward Michigan	1 January 1971	Army Officer
Major General Hardev Singh Kler	1 January 1971	Army Officer
Captain Mohan Narayan Rao Samant	1 January 1971	Army Officer
Brigadier Rajkumar Singh	1 January 1971	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Surinder Kapur	1 January 1971	Army Officer
Lance Naik Ram Ugrah Pandey	1 January 1971	Army Soldier
Sepoy Ansuya Prasad	1 January 1971	Army Soldier
Rifleman Pati Ram Gurung	24 November 1971	Army Soldier
Lieutenant Colonel Shamsher Singh	30 November 1971	Army Officer
Vice Admiral Swaraj Parkash	30 November 1971	Indian Navy Officer
Major Anup Singh Gahlaut	1 December 1971	Army Officer
Brigadier Basdev Singh Mankotia	1 December 1971	Army Officer
Major General Anant Vishwanath Natu	3 December 1971	Army Officer
Major General Kashmiri Lal Rattan	3 December 1971	Army Officer
Major General Prem Kumar Khanna	3 December 1971	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Jaivir Singh	3 December 1971	Army Officer
Air Vice Marshal Vidya Bhushan Vasisht	3 December 1971	Indian Air Force Officer
Group Captain Allan Albert D’Costa	3 December 1971	Indian Air Force Officer
Subedar Major Bir Bahadur Pun	3 December 1971	Army Soldier
Commodore Kasargod Patnashetti Gopal Rao	4 December 1971	Indian Navy Officer
General Arun Shridhar Vaidya (2nd)	4 December 1971	Army Officer
Commodore Babru Bhan Yadav	4 December 1971	Indian Navy Officer
Captain Devinder Singh Ahlawat	5 December 1971	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Krishnaswamy Gowri Shankar	5 December 1971	Army Officer
Brigadier Kuldip Singh Chandpuri	5 December 1971	Army Officer
Brigadier Narinder Singh Sandhu	5 December 1971	Army Officer
Wing Commander Padmanabha Gautam (2nd)	5 December 1971	Indian Air Force Officer
Air Marshal Ravinder Nath Bhardwaj	5 December 1971	Indian Air Force Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Sawai Bhawani Singh	5 December 1971	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Joginder Singh Gharaya Also won: Kirti Chakra (KC)	5 December 1971	Army Officer
Brigadier Kailash Prasad Pande	5 December 1971	Army Officer
Brigadier Mohindar Lal Whig	6 December 1971	Army Officer
Sepoy Pandurang Salunkhe	6 December 1971	Army Soldier
Air Vice Marshal Chandan Singh	6 December 1971	Indian Air Force Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Chittoor Venugopal	6 December 1971	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Joginder Singh Bakshi	7 December 1971	Army Officer
Subedar Major Mohinder Singh	7 December 1971	Army Soldier
Major Chewang Rinchen (2nd)	7 December 1971	Army Officer
Petty Officer Chiman Singh	7 December 1971	Indian Navy Sailor
Commander Joseph Pius Alfred Noronha	8 December 1971	Indian Navy Officer
Brigadier Udai Singh Bhati	8 December 1971	Army Officer
Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla	8 December 1971	Army Officer
Naik Sugan Singh	8 December 1971	Army Soldier
Brigadier Rattan Nath Sharma	9 December 1971	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Harish Chandra Pathak	9 December 1971	Army Officer
Major Kulwant Singh Pannu	10 December 1971	Army Officer
Brigadier Sukhjit Singh	11 December 1971	Army Officer
Major Vijay Rattan Choudhry	11 December 1971	Army Officer
Lance Naik Drig Pal Singh	11 December 1971	Army Soldier
Captain Pradip Kumar Gour	11 December 1971	Army Officer
Brigadier Amarjit Singh Bal	13 December 1971	Army Officer
Havildar Thomas Philipose	14 December 1971	Army Soldier
Lieutenant Colonel Ved Prakash Ghai	15 December 1971	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Hanut Singh	15 December 1971	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Raj Mohan Vohra	15 December 1971	Army Officer
Air Commodore Ramesh Sakharam Benegal	16 December 1971	Indian Air Force Officer
Second Lieutenant Shamsher Singh Samra	16 December 1971	Army Officer
Lance Naik Shanghara Singh	16 December 1971	Army Soldier
Lance Havildar Dil Bahadur Chettri	17 December 1971	Army Soldier
Rear Admiral Santosh Kumar Gupta	17 December 1971	Indian Navy Officer
Brigadier Vijay Kumar Berry	17 December 1971	Army Officer
Air Chief Marshal S. K. Kaul	17 December 1971	Indian Air Force Officer
Subedar Nar Bahadur Chhetri	17 December 1971	Army Soldier
Colonel Dharam Vir Singh	17 December 1971	Army Officer
Brigadier Sant Singh (2nd)	17 December 1971	Army Officer
Major Daljit Singh Narang	17 December 1971	Army Officer
Lieutenant General Ved Prakash Airy	21 December 1971	Army Officer
Assistant commandant Ram Krishna Wadhwa	21 December 1971	CAPF Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Puttichanda Somaiah Ganapathi	28 December 1971	Army Officer
Brigadier Manjit Singh	30 December 1971	Army Officer
Lieutenant Arvind Singh	31 December 1971	Army Officer
Squadron Leader Ajjamada B. Devaiah	1 January 1972	Indian Air Force Officer
Colonel Krishna Gopal Chatterjee	2 January 1972	Army Officer
Lance Havildar Nar Bahadur Ale	20 January 1972	Army Soldier
Naik Prem Bahadur Gurung	20 January 1972	Army Soldier
Subedar Sansar Chand	10 December 1972	Army Soldier
Lieutenant Colonel Inder Bal Singh Bawa	16 October 1987	Army Officer
Captain Pratap Singh	19 October 1987	Army Officer
Second Lieutenant Rajeev Sandhu	22 January 1988	Army Officer
Colonel Vijay Kumar Bakshi	26 January 1988	Army Officer
Captain Anuj Nayyar	26 January 1988	Army Officer
Major Balwan Singh	26 January 1988	Army Officer
Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari	26 January 1988	Army Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Sonam Wangchuk	26 January 1988	Army Officer
Captain Keishing Clifford Nongrun	2 April 1988	Army Officer
Naik Digendra Kumar	25 May 1988	Army Officer
Captain Neikezhakuo Kengurüse	19 July 1988	Army Officer
Major Padmapani Acharya	29 March 1989	Army Officer
Major Vivek Gupta	15 August 1999	Army Officer
Sepoy Imliakum Ao	15 August 1999	Army Soldier
Captain Gurjinder Singh Suri	15 August 1999	Army Officer
Colonel B. Santosh Babu	15 August 1999	Army Officer
Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath	15 August 1999	Indian Air Force Officer
Lieutenant Colonel Mahatam Singh	15 August 1999	Army Officer
Captain Shankar Shankhapan Walkar	15 August 1999	Army Officer
Air Vice Marshal Cecil Vivian Parker	15 August 1999	Indian Air Force Officer
Air Commodore Harcharan Singh Manget	15 August 1999	Army Officer
Air Vice Marshal Madhavendra Banerji	26 January 2000	Indian Air Force Officer
Subedar Malkiat Singh	1 January 2001	Army Soldier
Group Captain Man Mohan Bir Singh Talwar	26 January 2021	Indian Air Force Officer

Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) Award Chart by Award Date

This chart groups 219 Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) winners by Award Date, across 85 distinct entries — 26 January 1950 leads with 42 wins.

Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) Award Chart by Military Category

This chart groups 218 Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) winners by Military Category, across 7 distinct entries — Army Officer leads with 134 wins.

Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) Award FAQs

The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) is awarded for Exceptional gallantry, indomitable courage or supreme sacrifice in the presence of the enemy on land, sea or air.

The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) is presented by Republic of India.

The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) was first awarded on October 27, 1947.

The first Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) was awarded to Lieutenant Colonel Dewan Ranjit Rai.

The most recent Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) was awarded on January 26, 2021.

Colonel B. Santosh Babu received the most recent Maha Vir Chakra (MVC).

Yes, the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) is currently active.

The official website for the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) is https://www.warb-mha.gov.in/.