Rear Admiral Nelson A J D’Souza, a distinguished officer of the Indian Navy hailing from Mangaluru, has taken charge as the new Director (Operations) at Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), a prominent defence public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Defence.
Rear Admiral D’Souza brings over three decades of rich experience in naval operations, technical leadership, and defence infrastructure management. Prior to this role, he served as the Commandant of the Military Institute of Technology (MILIT), Pune, where he played a vital role in modernising defence training, promoting tri-service cooperation, and advancing collaboration between industry and academia.
Commissioned into the Indian Navy in March 1991, D’Souza is an alumnus of St Aloysius College, Mangaluru, and SJCE, Mysuru, with a degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering. He further honed his strategic and operational skills at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and the Naval War College, Goa.
During his distinguished naval career, he held multiple leadership roles including Chief Staff Officer (Technical) at the Eastern Naval Command, Principal Director (Weapon Equipment) at Naval Headquarters, and General Manager (Refit) at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. He also served aboard key Indian warships such as INS Viraat, INS Kirch, and INS Mysore. In 2018, he was awarded the Nau Sena Medal for meritorious service.
Originally from Kalpane, Kulshekar, he is the son of the late Lancelot and Winnifred D’Souza. He is married to Shylon D’Souza, daughter of the late A B Rodrigues and Florine Rodrigues. The couple has two sons, Nihal and Shawn.
In his new role at GSL, Rear Admiral D’Souza will oversee critical shipbuilding and repair functions, contributing to India’s maritime self-reliance efforts under the Make in India initiative. His appointment is expected to further strengthen GSL’s operational capabilities and defence manufacturing excellence.
