Shantanu Jha

Rear Admiral Shantanu Jha, NM is a serving Flag officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as the Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area.

Rear Admiral Shantanu Jha NM
Allegiance	India
Branch	Indian Navy
Years of service	1993 – present
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands	Maharashtra Naval Area INS Sahyadri (F49) INS Kora (P61) INS Nishank (K43)

Naval career

Jha attended the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 July 1993. He specialised in Navigation and Direction and served as the Navigation officer onboard multiple frigates and destroyers, and the aircraft carrier INS Viraat (R22). He attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. Jha commanded the Veer-class corvette INS Nishank (K43) and the Kora-class corvette INS Kora (P61). He also served as the Joint Director (Personnel) at naval headquarters.^[1]

As a Captain, Jha served as the Naval attaché (NA) at the Embassy of India at Tehran, Iran and as the Naval Assistant to Vice Chief of the Naval Staff. He also served as the Executive officer of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya (R33) under the command of Captain Ajay Kochhar. In 2018, he took command of the Shivalik-class stealth guided missile frigate INS Sahyadri (F49). He led the ship on a long overseas deployment across South-East Asia, United States and Australia. In June, Sahyadri participated in Malabar 2018 exercise in the Philippine Sea. This was followed by Exercise RIMPAC off Pearl Harbour.^[2][3] On her way back, Sahyadri called on Fiji and exercised with the Royal Australian Navy in Exercise Kakadu in September.^[4][5]

Promoted to the rank of Commodore, Jha was selected to attend the Royal College of Defence Studies in London. He then served as Commodore (Foreign Cooperation) and as the Commodore (Strategy, Concepts and Transformation), both at NHQ.^[6] On 26 January 2023, he was awarded the Nao Sena Medal for devotion to duty.^[7]

Flag rank

Jha was promoted to flag rank in January 2024 and was appointed Chief Staff Officer (Operations) of the Eastern Naval Command.^[8][9] On 17 October 2025, he was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area (FOMA). He took over from Rear Admiral Anil Jaggi.^[10]

Awards and decorations

Jha was awarded the Nao Sena Medal in 2023. He has also been commended by the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Commander-in-Chief on four occasions.

Nao Sena Medal	Samanya Seva Medal	Operation Vijay Medal	Operation Parakram Medal
Sainya Seva Medal	75th Independence Anniversary Medal	50th Independence Anniversary Medal	30 Years Long Service Medal
	20 Years Long Service Medal	9 Years Long Service Medal