Explore India’s Interim Defense Budget 2024-‘25
Presenting the Interim Budget 2024-’25 on 1 February, the finance minister announced an allocation of INR 6,21,541 crore (approx. US$75 billion) for the Ministry of Defense (MoD). Representing 1.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 13 percent of Central Government Expenditure (CGE), MoD’s new budget is an increase of 4.7 percent over the previous outlays. This brief examines the MoD’s latest budget and contextualizes it in the current regional and global security environment. It offers an overview of the MoD’s allocations over the last several years; and examines the drivers of growth in the latest allocations and the impact on defence modernisation and self-reliance. The author examines the nuances of GDP-to-defense ratio in view of ongoing debates, and not just in India, on how much a country should spend on national defense.