# 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. 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 technologies, 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, rather than critical arms and ammunition.

## Overview

India's defence budget includes allocation for the three defence services: the army, navy and air force. It also includes allocation for the ordnance factories, research and development, and capital outlay. Additionally there are civil defence expenditures such as pensions. Unofficial expenditure includes expenses for four of the six Central Armed Police Forces responsible for border security. The space program and atomic energy are funded separately.
India's official and unofficial defence allocation :
| Official status | Category or Demand for Grants (DFGs) | Category or Demand for Grants (DFGs) | DCE/DSE |
| Unofficial | Ministry of Defence (Canteen Store Department, MOD Secretariat, Coast Guard, J&K Light Infantry) | Ministry of Defence (Canteen Store Department, MOD Secretariat, Coast Guard, J&K Light Infantry) | Defence Civil (DCE) |
| Defence Civil (DCE) ||
| Official defence budget | Operating expenses | Army (including the National Cadet Corps (NCC), Director General of Quality Assurance (DGQA), Military Farms and Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme) | Defence Services (DSE) |
| Official defence budget | Operating expenses | Navy (Joint Staff) | Defence Services (DSE) |
| Official defence budget | Operating expenses | Air Force | Defence Services (DSE) |
| Official defence budget | Operating expenses | Ordnance Factories | Defence Services (DSE) |
| Official defence budget | Operating expenses | Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) | Defence Services (DSE) |
| Official defence budget | Capital expense | Capital outlay (Capital expenditure of all services including the NCC, Ordnance Factories and DGQA) | Defence Services (DSE) |
| Unofficial | Border Roads Organisation, Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal, border management, CAPF construction, border outposts | Border Roads Organisation, Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal, border management, CAPF construction, border outposts | Border Roads Organisation, Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal, border management, CAPF construction, border outposts |

## Expenditures

Share of military services in defence budget in 2020–2021:

### 2017–2018

The Minister of Finance allocated ₹359,000 crore (equivalent to ₹5.0 trillion or US$59 billion in 2023) of the 2017 Union budget of India for the development of the armed forces, marking a raise of around 7% from the previous fiscal year.

### 2018–2019

In presenting the defence budget of 2018–2019, the Finance Minister allocated ₹404,365 crore (equivalent to ₹5.4 trillion or US$63 billion in 2023) for the Ministry of Defence (MOD). This translates into an increase of 5.66% over the 2017–2018 defence budget.

### 2019–2020

As 2019 was an election year the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government presented an interim budget in place of a regular budget as per the general practice. In the interim budget an allocation of ₹431,011 crore (equivalent to ₹5.4 trillion or US$63 billion in 2023) was made. On its re-election the NDA government kept the military budget unchanged. However the actual expenditure exceeded the estimated amount and final defence spending for 2019–2020 stood at ₹448,820 crore (equivalent to ₹5.6 trillion or US$65 billion in 2023), marking an increase of around 10% over the previous budget.

### 2020–2021

The allocation for defence during the fiscal year 2020–2021 stood at ₹471,378 crore (equivalent to ₹5.5 trillion or US$65 billion in 2023). This amounted to an increase of nearly 9%.

### 2021–2022

The allocation for defence during the fiscal year 2021–2022 was ₹478,196 crore (equivalent to ₹5.4 trillion or US$63 billion in 2023), an increase of 1% over the previous year.

### 2022–2023

The allocation for defence during the fiscal year 2022–2023 stood at ₹525,166 crore (equivalent to ₹5.6 trillion or US$65 billion in 2023), an increase of nearly 10% over the previous year. making it the fourth highest in the world after the US, China, and Russia.

### 2023–2024

The defence expenditure for fiscal year 2023–2024 stood at ₹593,538 crore (US$69 billion).

### 2024–2025

The defence budget of India was increased to ₹621,940 crore (US$73 billion) in the 2024-2025 union budget from ₹593,538 crore (US$69 billion) during last year. This year’s defence budget accounts for 1.89% of the country’s projected gross domestic product (GDP) for 2024-25.

### Spending as a percentage of GDP

| Year | Ruling coalition | Expenditure (%) | Change |
| 2024 | National Democratic Alliance | 1.89 | 0.08 |
| 2023 | National Democratic Alliance | 1.97 | 0.24 |
| 2022 | National Democratic Alliance | 2.21 | 0.45 |
| 2021 | National Democratic Alliance | 2.66 | 0.22 |
| 2020 | National Democratic Alliance | 2.88 | 0.36 |
| 2019 | National Democratic Alliance | 2.52 | 0.10 |
| 2018 | National Democratic Alliance | 2.42 | 0.09 |
| 2017 | National Democratic Alliance | 2.51 | 0.00 |
| 2016 | National Democratic Alliance | 2.51 | 0.10 |
| 2015 | National Democratic Alliance | 2.41 | 0.09 |
| 2014 | National Democratic Alliance | 2.50 | 0.03 |
| 2013 | United Progressive Alliance | 2.47 | 0.07 |
| 2012 | United Progressive Alliance | 2.54 | 0.11 |
| 2011 | United Progressive Alliance | 2.65 | 0.06 |
| 2010 | United Progressive Alliance | 2.71 | 0.18 |
| 2009 | United Progressive Alliance | 2.89 | 0.34 |
| 2008 | United Progressive Alliance | 2.55 | 0.21 |
| 2007 | United Progressive Alliance | 2.34 | 0.18 |
The above statistics were collected by the World Bank up to 2018.

### Capital acquisition

| Service | BE 2013–2014 (₹ in crore) | RE 2013–2014 (₹ in crore) | Under/over spending (₹ in crore) | Under/over spending (%) | Interim 2014–2015 (₹ in crore) | % growth of interim 2014–2015 over BE 2013–2014 |
| Army | 23,423.23 | 10,871.22 | 2,525.82 | 18.95 | 20,920.20 | 56.83 |
| Navy | 19,972.78 | 19,234.32 | 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 | 75,758.95 | 2.55 |
The above data was published by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.