Sanjay Bhalla

Vice Admiral Sanjay Bhalla, AVSM, NM is a serving flag officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command. He earlier served as the Chief of Personnel and as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.

Early life and education He is an alumnus of Guru Nanak Public School, Chandigarh and Government Post Graduate College, Sector 11, Chandigarh. He is also an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the Naval War College, Goa and the Royal College of Defence Studies, London. The flag officer holds a MPhil degree in Defence and Strategic Studies, Masters in International Security and Strategic Studies from the King's College, London and MSc (Telecom) from CUSAT.

Naval career Bhalla was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 January 1989. He is a specialist in Communication and Electronic Warfare , along with being a Clearance Naval Diver , graduating from Diving School , Kochi .Bhalla has commanded the Veer-class missile vessel , and the Nilgiri-class anti-submarine warfare frigate . He subsequently commanded the Brahmaputra-class guided-missile frigate . As a Commodore, he served as the Naval assistant to the Chief of the Naval Staff.

Flag rank On promotion to Flag Rank, Bhalla took over as the Assistant Chief of Personnel (Human Resource Development) (ACOP HRD) at naval headquarters. ACOP is an assistant principal staff officer appointment. On 20 December 2021, he assumed the office of the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF), taking over from Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti who commanded the Eastern Fleet from February to December 2021. On 26 January 2022, he was awarded the Nao Sena Medal for devotion to duty. As FOCEF, he was the officer in tactical command during the President's fleet review (PFR) held in February 2022.

On 1 April 2023, he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and appointed Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command, taking over Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan. On 26 January 2024, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. On 10 May 2024, he took over as the Chief of Personnel. On 31 October 2025, he was appointed the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command succeeding Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar.

Awards and decorations Bhalla was awarded the Nao Sena Medal for devotion to duty in 2022 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2024.