Eastern Naval Command
The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocean and the naval establishments on the east coast of India.
The Command was established in 1983. The Command is commanded by a Three Star Flag Officer of the rank of Vice Admiral with the title Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command. Vice Admiral Sanjay Bhalla is the current FOC-in-C ENC, who took over on 31 October 2025.
History
After the independence and the partition of India on 15 August 1947, the ships and personnel of the Royal Indian Navy were divided between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The division of the ships was on the basis of two-thirds of the fleet to India, one third to Pakistan.The Surface Fleet of the Navy was called Indian Fleet and was commanded by the Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet. Initially, the shore establishments on the eastern coast were headed by a captain in the appointment of Naval Officer-in-Charge, Vishakapatnam. This was subsequently upgraded to the appointment of Commodore East, a One Star appointment. The FOCIF and COMEAST reported into the Chief of the Naval Staff. In July 1967, COMEAST was upgraded to the two-star appointment of Flag Officer, East Coast. On 1 March 1968, the Eastern Fleet was also created. With this, the appointment of FOEC was re-designated Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command. The Indian Fleet was split between the Western Fleet and the Eastern Fleet with the Fleet Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet reporting into the FOC-in-C ENC. On 1 March 1971, Vice Admiral Nilakanta Krishnan took over as FOC-in-C, the first three-star officer to lead the command.
The oldest naval establishment of the Eastern Seaboard was the INS Circars, Visakhapatnam, which was identified as "an important convoy assembly point" for the Royal Indian Navy flotillas. A small Naval Base was established there on 12 December 1939 and the base was designated as HMIS Circars on 12 April 1942. Now, the base is the base depot ship of the Eastern Naval Command. It is the logistics and administrative support establishment of the Command, supporting all ships and units based in Visakhapatnam. As of 2018, the establishment supports 52 additional units with strength of 2,300 sailors and 400 officers, besides accommodating live-in sailors of Circars.
Area of responsibility
Under the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command is the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, Commodore Commanding Submarines , Admiral Superintendent Dockyard for Visakhapatnam, shore establishments, and five Naval Officers-in-Charge.The Eastern naval Command has the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu etc., under its area of responsibility.
The FOC-in-C is the submarine operating authority, under whom COMCOS operates. The 11th and 8th Submarine Squadrons operate under COMCOS. INS Virbahu, a submarine base commissioned on 19 May 1971, is the alma mater of the Indian Navy submariners.
Organization
The Eastern Naval Command is organized as follows:| Post | Current Holder | References |
| Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief | Vice Admiral Sanjay Bhalla, AVSM, NM | |
| Chief of Staff | Vice Admiral Susheel Menon, VSM | |
| Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet | Rear Admiral Alok Ananda, YSM | |
| Flag Officer Commanding Tamil Nadu & Puducherry Naval Area | Rear Admiral Ravi Kumar Dhingra, VSM | |
| Flag Officer Submarines | Rear Admiral Chetan C Chandegave | |
| Admiral Superintendent Dockyard - Visakhapatnam | Rear Admiral R. Vijay Sekhar, AVSM, NM | |
| Commodore Commanding Submarines | Commodore L. M. Fernandes |
Naval bases
The headquarters in Visakhapatnam, is also a strategically important dockyard for two nuclear-powered submarines of the Arihant-class submarine. Due to congestion and heavy shipping traffic, a new 20 square km base INS Varsha is being developed for exclusive naval use about 50 km south of Visakhapatnam.The Eastern Navy fleet is distributed among its bases at Paradip, Tuticorin, Kakinada and Chennai on the east coast, and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Navy has opened its latest naval air base, INS Baaz, at the southernmost tip of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to secure the strategically important Straits of Malacca, and another naval air station in Kolkata to base an unmanned aerial vehicle squadron.
| Base | City | State/Territory | Role |
| INS Circars | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | Logistics and Administrative support |
| INS Dega | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | Naval Air Station |
| INS Virbahu | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | Submarine base |
| INS Satavahana | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | Submarine Training Base of the Indian Navy |
| INHS Kalyani | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | Naval Hospital |
| INS Kalinga | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | Naval Missile Depot |
| INS Eksila | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | Marine gas turbine maintenance |
| INS Karna | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | MARCOS Base |
| INS Varsha | Rambilli | Andhra Pradesh | Future submarine base for the ENC |
| INS Adyar | Chennai | Tamil Nadu | Logistics and Maintenance support |
| NAE Chennai | Chennai | Tamil Nadu | Naval Air Enclave at Chennai International Airport |
| INS Parundu | Uchipuli | Tamil Nadu | Naval Air Station |
| INS Rajali | Arakkonam | Tamil Nadu | Naval Air Station |
| INS Kattabomman | Tirunelveli | Tamil Nadu | Submarine VLF facility |
| INS Tuticorin | Tuticorin | Tamil Nadu | Logistics support |
| INS Netaji Subhash | Kolkata | West Bengal | Logistics and Administrative support |
| INS Paradip | Paradip | Odisha | Forward Operating Base |
| INS Bhubaneswar | Bhubaneswar | Odisha | Naval Air Enclave |