New Delhi: The upcoming Budget 2025-26 will be Narendra Modi-led government’s 11th budget after it came back to power at the Centre for the third consecutive term in 2024. The defence sector has been one of the most crucial sectors in the Indian economy and the Modi government has emphasised on modernising the military and Make in India defence products.
The country has successfully manufactured indigenous intercontinental ballistic missiles, surface-to-surface missiles, defence missile systems, anti-tank guided missile systems, submarines, fighter jets and helicopters. All this has been possible due to huge budgetary allocation for the defence ministry to well equip the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, and the Indian Navy.
India’s defence budget allocation from 2014-15 to 2024-25:
- In the Budget 2024-25, the Ministry of Defence was allocated Rs 6,21,940.85 crore, the highest among the Ministries. The allocation to MoD was higher by approximately 18.43 percent over the allocation for FY 2022-23 and 4.79 per cent of FY 2023-24.
- In the FY 2023-24 Budget, the Defence Ministry was allocated a total Budget of Rs 5,93,537.64 lakh crore, which was 13.18 per cent of the total budget (Rs 45.03 lakh crore). The budgetary allocation of Rs 1,38,205 crore was meant for Defence Pensions.
- The Union Budget 2022-23 recorded an allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore for the Ministry of Defence, which is 13.31 per cent of the total budget of Rs 39.45 lakh crore. The total amount included an amount of Rs 1.19 lakh crore for Defence Pensions.
- The Union Budget 2020-21 envisaged a total outlay of Rs 30,42,230 crore. Out of this, Rs 3,37,553 crore has been allocated for Defence (excluding Defence Pension). For Defence Pension, an amount of Rs 1,33,825 crore was provided.
- The Budget 2019-20 recorded the Modi government allocating a total outlay of Rs 27,86,349 crore. The Defence Ministry got a lion’s share of Rs 3,18,931.22 crore and for Defence Pension, the amount allocated was Rs 1,12,079.57 crore. The total Defence allocation stood at Rs Rs 4,31,010.79 crore).
- The Union Budget for the financial year 2018-19 envisaged a total outlay of Rs 24,42,213 crore. Out of this, Rs 2,95,511.41 crore was allocated to Defence.
- In the 2017-18 Budget, the Ministry of Defence was allocated Rs 3,59,854 crore (including pensions) for expenditure across the various services, production establishments and research and development organisations.
- The Modi government announced the defence budget for India in 2016-17 at Rs 3,89,614 crore. This was an increase of less than 5 per cent from 2015-16. The budget was lower than the previous year’s budget, which was 1.75 percent of GDP.
- The Modi government presented its first full budget to Parliament on February 28, 2015. It allocated Rs 2,46,727 crore for defence, which was a 7.7 per cent increase over the previous year’s allocation.
- In Budget 2014, the Defence Ministry was allocated Rs 2.29 trillion. A proposal was announced to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the defence sector to 49 per cent.
The upcoming Budget 2025-26 will mark the Modi government’s 11th budget. Defence modernisation and the ‘Make in India’ initiative remain priorities. The article analyses past defence budget allocations (2014-2024), highlighting significant increases and their impact on the Indian Army, Air Force, and Navy’s capabilities. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
