MCEME Commandant Lt Gen I S Rathore has taken charge of the Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering in Secunderabad, as the 43rd head of the institution. Rathore took charge on 1 November 2026, and he succeeds Lt Gen Neeraj Varshney. The college is the Army’s premier technical training institution, and it trains the officers and men of the Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, who maintain and repair the sophisticated equipment the Army uses.
The MCEME Commandant is an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy. The college he now leads is responsible for the technical training of the Corps of EME, which looks after the maintenance, repair and management of the Army’s equipment. The Corps is the arm of the Army that keeps its vehicles, weapons and electronic systems in working order, and the college is where its officers and men learn the trade. The role carries the task of keeping the training in step with the technology the Army uses, and of making sure the officers and men who pass through the college can handle the systems they will meet in the field.
MCEME Commandant Rathore takes charge at a time when the college has added new facilities for the technologies the Army is adopting. The college has Dronalaya, a facility for drones, Yantralaya, for unmanned systems and robotics, and Rachnalaya, for additive manufacturing. The facilities show the direction the college is taking, and they reflect the Army’s push to bring new technology into its training.
MCEME Commandant and the college in Secunderabad
The MCEME Commandant will lead a college that has been at the centre of the Army’s technical training for decades. The Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering is based in Secunderabad, and it trains the officers and men who keep the Army’s equipment running. The Corps of EME is responsible for the maintenance, repair and management of sophisticated equipment, and the college is where its officers and men learn the skills they need. The 43rd Commandant takes over from Lt Gen Neeraj Varshney, who led the college before him.
MCEME Commandant Rathore is an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, and he succeeds Lt Gen Neeraj Varshney as the 43rd head of the college. The college has a long history, and it has trained generations of officers and men for the Corps of EME. The new Commandant will be responsible for the training, the facilities and the direction of the college, and for making sure it keeps pace with the technology the Army is adopting.
MCEME Commandant and the Decade of Transformation
The MCEME Commandant takes charge during the Army’s Decade of Transformation, a period in which the force is modernising its equipment and its training. The college has a part to play in that effort, and its new facilities for drones, unmanned systems and additive manufacturing show the direction it is taking. The Decade of Transformation is the Army’s name for the effort to bring its training and its equipment up to date, and the college in Secunderabad is one of the places where that work is done.
MCEME Commandant Rathore will oversee the training of the officers and men who will maintain the Army’s new equipment, and the college will need to keep its courses in step with the technology. The facilities at Dronalaya, Yantralaya and Rachnalaya give the college the tools to train for the systems the Army is adopting. The report on the change of command also mentioned Operation Sindoor, the operation the Army has cited in its recent training.
The MCEME Commandant has taken charge as the 43rd head of the college, and the appointment is effective from 1 November 2026. The college in Secunderabad will continue its work of training the Corps of EME, and the new Commandant will lead it through the Decade of Transformation. The facilities for drones, unmanned systems and additive manufacturing are in place, and the training will build on them. The college has a new head, and the work of the Corps goes on.