Iran war shows why India’s defence budget needs a 21st-century upgrade
Think of the Indian Army — what comes to mind? Large battalions of soldiers walking in unison, guns slung over their shoulders? Tanks and cannons? Long convoys of defence vehicles? You are not wrong. This is what most armies look like, and India is no exception.
In fact, we have one of the biggest armies in the world, with approximately 1.4 million personnel in active service. Our defence spending isn’t exactly low either. India’s defence budget for 2025-26 stands at Rs 6.81 lakh crore ($76bn), a 9.5% increase from the previous year. Of this, roughly Rs 3.11 lakh crore goes toward salaries and operational expenses and Rs 1.6 lakh crore toward pensions, totalling Rs 4.7 lakh crore ($52bn), which means that nearly 70% of the defence budget is spent on manpower-related costs. Only about Rs 1.8 lakh crore ($20bn), or roughly one quarter of the budget, is allocated for modernisation and new equipment. And yes, from our defence budget, we pay almost as much for pensions (for personnel no longer in uniform) as we do for modernisation and procurement of new equipment.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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