Vennam Srinivas

Vice Admiral Vennam Srinivas, AVSM, NM is a serving flag officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command. He previously served as the Inspector General Nuclear Safety, Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA) and as the Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM).

Naval career
Srinivas was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 July 1987. He specialized in anti-submarine warfare and joined the submarine arm where he has served for over 30 years. He served onboard the Shishumar-class submarines INS Shalki, INS Shishumar, and INS Shankul during Operation Vijay. In his staff appointments, he served as Commander (Submarines) at Commodore Commanding Submarines (West) at Mumbai and as the Chief Staff Officer to Flag Officer Submarines.

He attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and the Naval War College, Goa where he was awarded the Commander-in-Chief's Silver Medal. He also attended the Senior Defence Management Course at the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad.

He has commanded two conventional submarines including the Shishumar-class diesel-electric attack submarine INS Shankul and the Rajput-class Guided-missile destroyer INS Ranvir. He then commanded the nuclear-powered attack submarine Chakra.

As a Commodore, Srinivas served as Principal Director Ship Systems and Development (PDSSD) at naval headquarters. He then commanded the Navy’s submarine training establishment INS Satavahana at Visakhapatnam.

Flag rank
On 24 October 2016, Srinivas was appointed Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM), taking over from Rear Admiral Sanjay Mahindru. He had a long tenure as FOSM, till February 2020. On 8 February, he was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area and took over from Rear Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar. After a year-long tenure, he moved to NHQ to head the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project. He subsequently was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and was appointed Inspector General Nuclear Safety.

He was appointed as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command on 5 December 2023, and assumed the office on 31 December 2023 succeeding Vice Admiral M. A. Hampiholi.

Awards and decorations
Srinivas was awarded the Nao Sena Medal in 2009 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2021.