The Army and Navy chiefs are preparing to move out of South Block in New Delhi in a major relocation of India's military leadership, ending a long-standing arrangement under which the two service chiefs and their senior officers operated from the iconic government building on Raisina Hill, reports published on November 2 and 3 said.
Source: India Sentinels (India Today report)
Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth, along with the Vice Chief of the Army Staff and seven Principal Staff Officers (PSOs), is expected to shift his office to Shaurya Bhavan, the Army's new headquarters in Delhi Cantonment, by the end of November. Navy Chief Admiral Krishna Swaminathan will also leave South Block along with his Vice Chief and PSOs, moving to Sena Bhavan, which stands directly behind South Block.
The Army's operational nerve centre is also set to move: the office of the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and the Army's war room will be relocated, the reports said. It is not yet clear where the Navy's war room will go, as it needs extensive infrastructure and technological support.
The Navy already has a headquarters in the cantonment. Nausena Bhavan was inaugurated on March 15, 2024, by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and was described by the Ministry of Defence as the service's first independent headquarters in Delhi.
Part of the wider Raisina Hill shift
The relocation follows the wider shift of government offices out of the secretariat blocks on Raisina Hill. The Ministry of Defence has temporarily shifted to Kartavya Bhavan 2 and will move permanently to Kartavya Bhavan 6 and 7 once those buildings are completed, according to the reports, which said the Chief of Defence Staff is currently the only senior military leader based at Kartavya Bhavan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Prime Minister's Office complex, Seva Teerth, along with Kartavya Bhavan 1 and 2 on February 13, 2026.
South Block and North Block were completed in 1931 to a design by British architect Herbert Baker, and the government plans to convert them into a museum, Yuge Yugeen Bharat, the reports said. South Block has housed the headquarters of both services for decades, with each chief working from the building.
Source: News89 (India Today report)
The Army chief's shift to Shaurya Bhavan is expected by the end of November. The future location of the Navy's war room has not been decided in the reports, and the Defence Ministry's permanent move awaits completion of Kartavya Bhavan 6 and 7.