Despite India’s growing global profile and expanding diplomatic responsibilities, the External Affairs Ministry’s budgetary allocation remains disproportionately low.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs expressed its dismay over the drop in the allocation.
“In the Budget Estimates (BE) 2025-26, at Rs. 20,516.61 crores, represents a 7.39% reduction from BE 2024-25 and an 18.83% decrease compared to the Revised Estimates (RE) for 2024-25,” parliamentary standing committee on external affairs headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said.
The Committee noted that, for the current fiscal year, the MEA’s allocation positioned it at 22nd amongst all the ministries of the government of India. “This situation reinforces the Committee’s longstanding concern that the MEA is significantly underfunded.”
In the report tabled in the parliament, it noted that India’s diplomatic influence was growing, and the country is taking on an increasingly important role in global affairs, including multilateral engagements, regional security, development partnerships, and responding to emerging challenges such as climate change, cyber security and global public health.
“However, MEA's allocation as a percentage of the Government of India’s total budget continues to decline from 0.46% in FY 2024-25 to 0.41% in FY 2025-26. This reduction in MEA’s share is alarming, particularly given the broadening scope of India's international outreach and responsibilities,” the report said, adding that the current allocation does not adequately support India’s foreign policy priorities and international stature.
The Tharoor-led panel recommended to the government that the budgetary allocation of MEA be increased by at least 20% in the next fiscal year.
According to the Committee, the three key areas that require urgent attention were: human resource development; embassy and mission operations and acquisition of diplomatic real estate.
The panel noted that there were 216 Indian Missions and Posts abroad. New missions were opened in Riga (Latvia), Tbilisi (Georgia), Tirana (Albania), Libreville (Gabon), Dili (Timor Leste), and La Paz (Bolivia), as well as new Consulates in Brisbane (Australia), Marseille (France), Barcelona (Spain), and Auckland (New Zealand).
The Committee was also told by the ministry that five new missions will be opened in Europe, Latin America and Caribbean regions. However, still India lacked a resident Mission or Post in 41 countries.
The Committee urged the Ministry of External Affairs to expedite the establishment of Missions and Posts in these countries.
Passport services were one of the key services provided by the ministry, which came in for praise from the parliamentary panel. Under the Passport Seva Programme, there are 93 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs), 444 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) and 37 Regional Passport Offices across the country. These are spread across 505 Lok Sabha constituencies.
There has been a steady increase in revenue earnings, particularly from passport fees, which have risen significantly from Rs 2332.50 crores in FY 2021-22 to an estimated Rs 4000 crores in BE 2024-25.
In another welcome move, the panel noted the increased representation of women in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), with women officers constituting 39.39% of the 2024 batch. “The appointment of 15 lady officers as Heads of Missions is a notable step towards promoting gender equality at the senior-most levels of the Ministry,” the panel said in its report.