1. With profound grief and sorrow, we regret to inform all about the sad demise of our Nanogenarian Capt Madan Lal Nichani at 1630 hrs on 21 April 2025 at his residence at AWHO, Tucker Vihar, Hadapsar, Pune. He was 96 years old.

2. Captain ML Nichani completed B. Sc (tech) from Banaras Hindu University. Thereafter he joined Standard Batteries. The company was going through some tough times, and people were asked to look out for other jobs, as the company was likely to go bankrupt. Some of his friends decided to explore joining the Indian Navy. He tagged along and that is how he joined the Indian Navy, way back in 1952.

3. His initial postings were in Bombay (now Mumbai), followed by Vishakapatnam In the late 1950s he was an instructor in INS Shivaji. In the early 60s, he was appointed on board INS Mysore. During the Indo-Pak 1965 war, he was onboard INS Mysore. There was a snag with a gun, which then he was able to salvage by an improvisation. For this act of his, he was awarded the FOCin-C’s Commendation card. Post the war, he was appointed to the Dockyard Apprentice School, Lion Gate, Bombay. In 1970, Capt Nichani was seconded to DRDO and was posted at Naval Chemical and Metallurgical Laboratory, where he continued till March 1979. It was during the month of December 1971, that he along with another scientist of DRDO, fabricated a device to impact the runways of the PAF bases.

4. In April 1979, he joined the then Institute of Armament Technology, now renamed as Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT), as Head of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, the first uniformed officer to head the department.

5. In June 1983, he choose to join Larsen & Toubro as the founding director of Larsen & Toubro Institute of Technology over a course in the UK. He headed the Institute for a period of 10 years. Thereafter, Capt Nichani devoted his time coaching those students who were struggling to do well in their studies.

6. An avid tennis player, he had represented the Western Naval Command (Ashore) team. When posted in Bombay, he was a regular at announcing Tambola at the US Club, and at the Cards Room too. He lived by the motto “A healthy mind in a healthy body”. He nurtured his spiritual side by attending lectures by Swami Chinmayananda and Satya Sai Baba, especially to hear about the learnings from the Bhagavad Gita. God fearing, he would devote time to his prayers and Sundays were a family ritual, when the entire family sat down to pray together.

7. Capt Nichani lost his wife, Chandrakala, in November 2014. Last year NFPC felicitated him at his residence in Jun on attaining the age of 96 years. Capt Nichani was residing in Pune and is survived by his daughter Anita, sons Lt Col Ajay Chaudhari, both at Pune and Arun Chaudhari and family who reside in New Zealand.

8. On behalf of the President and all members of NFPC, we convey our heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathy to all members of the grieving family and friends. We also pray to Almighty God to grant them peace, solace, strength and fortitude to bear this irreplaceable loss,

9. The last rites of the Veteran were conducted at Gangadham crematorium Hadapsar on 22 April 2025.

OM 🕉SHANTI 🙏🙏🙏

– Team NFPC