Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday set aside Rs 7,84,678 crore as the defence outlay for 2026-27, as against last year's allocation of Rs 6,81,210 crore. This is 2 per cent of the estimated GDP for the next financial year and shows an increase of 15.19 per cent over the Budgetary Estimates (BE) of FY 2025-26.
The budgetary allocation under the capital head for the defence forces is at Rs 2,19,306.47 crore, which is 21.84 per cent more than the Budget Estimates of FY 2025-26. Of this, Rs 1.85 lakh crore is earmarked for capital acquisition, which is nearly 24 per cent higher than the capital acquisition budget for FY 2025-26.
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The Ministry of Defence said that in addition to the modernisation of the armed forces and financing their regular requirements, the significantly enhanced allocation—14.67 per cent of the Union government's expenditure—will also cater for the financial requirements that have arisen due to the emergency procurement of arms and ammunition made post-Operation Sindoor.
But does it mean India has now become a country that spends most of its budget allocation on defence? Well, the largest chunk of allocation in Nirmala Sitharaman's ninth budget went to the Ministry of Finance—receiving 36.89% of the total allocation. Defence came second, receiving 14.67% of the allocations.
If you are wondering how much was allotted to prominent ministries, check out the following list (In Rs lakh crore):
Finance Ministry – 1,972,509.48
Defence Ministry – 784,678.28
Road Transport and Highways Ministry – 309,875.30
Railways Ministry – 281,377.32
Home Affairs Ministry – 255,233.53
Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ministry – 239,521.37
Rural Development Ministry – 197,023.14
Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry – 177,061.47
Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ministry – 140,528.78
Education Ministry – 139,289.48
Health and Family Welfare Ministry – 106,530.42
Communications Ministry – 102,267.02
Jal Shakti Ministry – 94,807.84
Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry – 85,522.39
Science and Technology Ministry – 38,260.94
New and Renewable Energy Ministry – 32,914.67
Labour and Employment Ministry – 32,666.31
Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry – 30,443.22
Power Ministry – 29,996.85
Women and Child Development Ministry – 28,183.06
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry – 24,566.27
Atomic Energy Ministry – 24,123.92
External Affairs Ministry – 22,118.97
Electronics and Information Technology Ministry – 21,632.96
Commerce and Industry Ministry – 17,843.90
Tribal Affairs Ministry – 15,421.97
Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry – 15,357.31
Department of Space Ministry – 13,705.63
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry – 9,885.80
Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Ministry – 8,915.26
Heavy Industries Ministry – 7,939.90
Development of North Eastern Region Ministry – 6,812.30
Corporate Affairs Ministry – 5,561.86
Law and Justice Ministry – 5,513.39
Statistics and Programme Implementation Ministry – 5,502.89
Textiles Ministry – 5,279.01
Ports, Shipping and Waterways Ministry – 5,164.80
Information and Broadcasting Ministry – 4,551.94
Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry – 4,479.88
AYUSH Ministry – 4,408.93
Food Processing Industries Ministry – 4,064.16
Mines Ministry – 3,806.45
Earth Sciences Ministry – 3,789.23
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry – 3,759.46
Coal Ministry – 3,635.32
Culture Ministry – 3,416.63
Minority Affairs Ministry – 3,400.00
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Ministry – 2,662.01
Tourism Ministry – 2,438.40
Civil Aviation Ministry – 2,102.87
President, Parliament and Related Offices Ministry – 2,083.83
Cooperation Ministry – 1,744.74
Planning Ministry – 1,232.16
Panchayati Raj Ministry – 1,190.16
Steel Ministry – 443.18
Parliamentary Affairs Ministry – 68.45
(Data courtesy: The Hindu)
