Presenting her ninth consecutive Budget on February 1, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs 7,84,678 crore for defence for 2026-27, significantly higher than last year's allocation of Rs 6,81,210 crore. This amount represents 2 per cent of the projected GDP for the upcoming fiscal year and is an increase of 15.19 per cent from the Budgetary Estimates (BE) for FY 2025-26.
The budgetary allocation under the capital head for defence forces is Rs 2,19,306.47 crore, which represents an increase of 21.84 per cent over the Budget Estimates of FY 2025-26. Of this, Rs 1.85 lakh crore has been earmarked for capital acquisition, which is nearly 24 per cent higher than the capital acquisition Budget for FY 2025-26.
The Ministry of Defence stated that, in addition to modernising the armed forces and covering their regular needs, the increased allocation of 14.67 per cent of the Union government's spending will also address the financial needs that arose from the emergency purchase of arms and ammunition after Operation Sindoor.
But does this mean India now spends most of its Budget on defence? The largest portion in Nirmala Sitharaman's ninth Budget went to the Ministry of Finance, which received 36.89 per cent of the total allocation. Defence came second, receiving 14.67 per cent of the allocations. According to a report by the news agency The Hindu, below is a list of the Budgetary allocations.
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Here's a look at how much was allotted to prominent ministries (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
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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
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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
