Military budget of India
The military budget or defence budget of India is the portion of the overall budget of Union budget of India that is allocated for the funding of the Indian Armed Forces.[1] The military budget finances employee salaries and training costs, maintenance of equipment and facilities, support of new or ongoing operations, and development and procurement of new weapons, equipment, and vehicles.
The Indian Army accounts for more than half of the total defence budget of India, with most of the expenditure going to the maintenance of cantonments, salaries and pensions, instead of critical arms and ammunition.[2][3]
Expenditure
2017-18
Union Minister for Finance Arun Jaitley allocated ₹359,000 crore (equivalent to ₹4.1 trillion or US$57 billion in 2019) of the 2017 Union budget of India for development in the Indian armed forces, marking a raise of around 7% from the previous fiscal year.[4]
2018-19
In presenting the Defence Budget of 2018-19 Finance Minister allocated ₹4,04,365 crore (US$57 billion) for the Ministry of Defence (MOD).[5]This translates into an increase of 5.66% over 2017-18 defence budget.
2019-20
As 2019 was an election year the NDA government presented an interim budget in place of a regular budget as per the general practice. In the interim budget an allocation of ₹4,31,011 crores (US$61.573 billion) was made[6]. On its re-election the NDA government kept the military budget unchanged. However the actual expenditure exceeded the estimated amount and final spending of defence for 2019-20 stood at ₹4,48,820 crores (US$62.71 Billion).[7] So there was an increase of around 10% with respect to previous budget.
2020-21
On 1 February 2020, the Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget. The allocation for defence during the fiscal year 2020-21 stood at ₹4,71,378 crores (US$65.86 Billion).[7]This amounted to an increase of just under 7%.
Spending (% of GDP)
Year | Ruling coalition | Expenditure (%) | Change |
---|---|---|---|
2018 | NDA | 2.42 | 0.09 |
2017 | 2.51 | 0.00 | |
2016 | 2.51 | 0.10 | |
2015 | 2.41 | 0.09 | |
2014 | 2.50 | 0.03 | |
2013 | UPA | 2.47 | 0.07 |
2012 | 2.54 | 0.11 | |
2011 | 2.65 | 0.06 | |
2010 | 2.71 | 0.18 | |
2009 | 2.89 | 0.34 | |
2008 | 2.55 | 0.21 | |
2007 | 2.34 | 0.18 | |
The above statistics were collected by World Bank up to 2018.[8]
Capital acquisition
Armed force | BE 2013-14 (₹ in Cr) | RE 2013-14 (₹ in Cr) | Under/over spending (₹ in Cr) | Under/over spending (%) | Interim 2014-15 (₹ in Cr) | % Growth of interim 2014-15 over BE 2013-14 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Army | 23,423.23 | 10,871.22 | 2,525.82 | 18.95 | 20,920.20 | 56.83 |
Navy | 19,972.78 | 19,234.31 | 3,614.47 | 15.39 | 23,020.86 | 1.95 |
Air Force | 37,048.06 | 36,016.54 | 1,031.52 | 2.78 | 31,817.89 | 14.12 |
Total | 73,853.88 | 66,682.07 | 7,171.81 | 9.71 | 75,738.95 | 2.55 |
The above data was published by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.[9]
References
- "Arms race: India approves defence procurements worth $3.5 bn, says report". The Express Tribune. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- https://www.investindia.gov.in/sector/defence-manufacturing
- https://web.archive.org/web/20190103071510/https://www.investindia.gov.in/sector/defence-manufacturing
- Behera, Laxman K (3 February 2017). "India's Defence Budget 2017-18:An Analysis". Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. IDSA. Retrieved 8 May 2017."India's defence budget hiked 10pc to INR 2.74 trillion". DAWN.COM. 1 February 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
- "Budget 2018: Defence sector gets a boost by 7.81%". Economic Times. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
- "India's Defence Budget 2019-20 | Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses". idsa.in. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- "India's Defence Budget 2020-21 | Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses". idsa.in. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- "Military expenditure (% of GDP) - India | Data". data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- "India's Interim Defence Budget 2014-15: An Appraisal". idsa.in. Retrieved 20 July 2014.