Our Terms & Conditions | Our Privacy Policy
While remaining cautious, the limited budget outlay for the Defence sector is a clear message that ‘now is not an era of war’
Published Date – 6 February 2025, 02:58 PM
By Sanjay Turi
The Union Budget has allocated a relatively larger share — Rs 6.8 lakh crore — to defence compared with the previous Budget. Modi 3.0 continues to increase its efforts towards procuring advanced defence equipment and matching China’s rapid infrastructure push along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Now, the question arises whether India is really on the right track to level its defence capability with that of China’s.
We also need to understand through a defence comparison whether India, standing in front of two nuclear powers, China and Pakistan, really has enough defence allocation to tackle the Sino-Pakistan’s combined aggression at LAC and LoC if it ever happens in the future.
Outsmarting China?
China’s increasing defence budget and rapid modernisation of its military power on a global scale, coupled with its significant push towards infrastructure development along the LAC, suggests that India should not remain complacent. This cautiousness is especially pertinent considering that both countries signed a disengagement agreement last October. However, given China’s rising hostility towards Taiwan and its numerous military drills in the South China Sea, as well as along the LAC near Ladakh, it would be unwise for India to have blind trust in China.
China’s current defence budget is 1.7% — $236 billion — of its GDP, while India’s recent allocation is 1.9% — $78 billion — of its GDP. Although the defence ministry saw a 9.53% increase this year from the previous year, there is still a huge gap in defence funding compared to China and the US. It can also be argued that the government cannot ignore the reality that the nature of warfare is rapidly changing in modern times. Global powers are exponentially increasing their defence allocation. When adjusted for inflation and the drastically weakening rupee, the hike is only meagre in the actual sense.
However, it can also be argued that India is probably playing very smart by not allocating enough for defence. It has always been an old technique of China (by exponentially increasing its defence budget) to indirectly push India towards allocating huge amounts of money for buying and upgrading advanced weaponry systems for its armed forces.
Clear Message
The limited outlay is a clear message from Prime Minister Modi, what he has always reiterated, that “now is not an era of war”. India, on the lines of Maximum Governance, Minimum Government, is headed to do more with less. This will probably help promote the idea of constraint-driven resource management and optimisation among the several departments of the government.
Of the Rs 6.81 lakh crore defence budget, about 96% or Rs 6.53 lakh crore has been allocated to the defence services in general, and only 4% or around Rs 28,500 crore has been allocated to the civil organisations of the ministry, which also includes Border Road Organisation (BRO) and Indian Coast Guard. The Rs 7,146 crore — 9.74% hike — to the BRO was on expected lines as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had unveiled 75 projects under the BRO worth Rs 2,236 crore earlier in October 2024. These projects are spread across 11 States and Union Territories, with 64% of the total infra projects mainly assigned to Jammu (19), Ladakh (11) and Arunachal Pradesh (18) regions along the LAC.
Additionally, India’s strategic allocation for the Indian Coast Guard — part of Rs 28,500 crore for civil organisations in general — is primarily driven by the fact that India wants/needs to counter China’s ambition to dominate the Indo-Pacific.
However, post Galwan clash, the BRO has seen an exponential increase in its budget allocation of more than 40% (from Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 3,500 crore) in 2022-23 and Rs 7,146 crore in 2025-26. As per the Economic Survey, almost one-third (31.75%) of the previous budget outlay was spent on capital expenditure and civil organisation by the defence ministry. This year, the government has also done the same by allocating 26.43% of the total outlay for capital formation in the defence services.
India’s Orientation
The recent news of China unveiling its 6th Generation Fighter Aircraft and also approving 40 5th generation stealth fighter jets to Pakistan is nothing but an old technique to force India to increase its defence budget unnecessarily. A few weeks after this news, India’s tentative buying order of 26 Rafale M fighter jets and three additional Scorpene-class submarines from France (expected to be sealed during Modi’s upcoming visit to France this month) worth over $10 billion can be best described as an example of India’s geostrategic security dilemma with China.
It’s an old technique of China — by exponentially increasing its defence budget — to indirectly push India towards allocating huge amounts for buying and upgrading weaponry systems
However, the current defence outlay has given more focus to creating jobs and employment through India-centric defence investments (Make in India) and less focus on China’s strategic move to push India towards allocating more money for defence. India must accept it and not forget that China is way beyond our competition. It’s probably not the right time for India to flex its military muscle. Doing so would only distract India’s focus from achieving its goal of prosperity.
The allocation for defence signals that India, ahead of its dream of becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047, smartly allocates its financial resources keeping in mind that the defence sector is only one component of Developed India.
The allocation of 26.43% of total defence outlay is for defence procurement, of which 75% has to be assigned to domestic industries, additionally reserving 25% for the Indian private sector. This is expected to give a significant boost to the Make in India programme and hopefully encourage the government to focus more on being self-reliant in defence technology, thereby creating employment opportunities.
It is also expected that the promotion of rapid infrastructural development along the border region will not just help India be always ready for any military aggression from China and Pakistan but also create jobs and employment for the locals living there in the region, providing an all-weather seamless connectivity to them. For example, the completion of the Z-Morh Tunnel in J&K, apart from playing a role of military significance along the LoC and LAC, is also expected to provide all-weather connectivity throughout the region, providing an added opportunity for the locals to look for employment throughout the year.
(The author is doctoral candidate, Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Aggregated From –
Comments are closed.