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Wednesday, September 3, 2025
TopicDefence budget

Topic: Defence budget

Modi govt & armed forces should cut personnel by another 10%, not recruit to fill ‘deficit’

We're using quantity to compensate for quality, and India’s defence budget can't increase too much. Army has a chance to bring about long-term reforms.

China raises defence spending by 7.1% despite lowest GDP growth forecast in 3 decades

China’s 2022 defence budget is over thrice the size of India’s spending. In 2021, China’s defence spending crossed $200 bn for the first time. This year, it’s up to $229.7 bn.

Now, Europe seeks higher defence spending but years of cuts & ‘neglect’ haunt militaries

Many countries have announced defence budget hikes, with Germany ending decades-old freeze. But ambitions will have to be balanced with legacy of underspending, capacity issues.

India’s new Maritime Security Coordinator is 22 years too late. But it ticks many boxes

A Group of Ministers, set up in 2000, after the Kargil conflict, had first recommended setting up “an apex body for the management of maritime affairs”.

Finance ministry’s ‘assured funds’ is old story. Army can utilise land to generate revenue

Smart defence budgeting has become important with China encroaching on India. This revenue model of the Army workforce can help.

India’s defence budget is good news for Navy, BRO; bad news for China. But there’s a catch

Budgetary hikes in defence allocation do mask the challenge of the availability of resources. Sustained growth is needed to fill this gap.

Defence procurement gets Budget boost, Modi govt hikes capital outlay to Rs 1.52 lakh crore

Overall defence budget for 2022-23 stands at Rs 5.25 lakh crore, up from Rs 4.78 lakh crore in 2021-22. Defence budget is 13.3% of total expenditure planned by Centre for 2022-23.

Defence innovation will cost money, private control. Else be happy with drone light shows

Govt procedures that masquerade as safety nets for minimising financial loss can only stifle innovation. Modi govt's well-intentioned iDEX scheme seems headed that way.

India can learn from Azerbaijan how to spend smart on military when budget is thin

Modi govt's capital budget allocation for 2021-22 is lower than the amount armed forces had sought in 2014-15. But spending more is not the answer, spending right is.

Modi or Manmohan, India’s military needs haven’t been met under either for 10 yrs, data shows

Over the last 10 years, the share of the defence budget spent on capital outlay has declined, from a high of 30% in 2011-12 to as low as 22% in 2018-19. 

On Camera

On Arundhati Roy, mother-daughter conflicts, and the burden of being a ‘good mother’

When reading the book, one can see Roy’s mother as a 'fascist government' unto herself, the centre of her own cult. In Arundhati’s words, Mary Roy was ‘mother guru’.

A Rs 33,000 cr ‘banking fraud’: ED’s case against Arvind Dham, Amtek’s web of ‘500 shell companies’

ED has accused Amtek promoter Arvind Dham of controlling web of nearly 500 shell companies operating as a layered structure, with up to 15 levels of indirect ownership, to divert funds.

‘Loyal wingman’ to full ICBM triad & air defence, China’s show of power at Victory Day parade

China flaunted military might & modernisation as it displayed stealth drones, anti-satellite system & cyber warfare contingent during parade to mark victory over Japan in WWII.

For Indian Mercedes, Asim Munir’s dumper truck in mirror is closer than it appears

From Munir’s point of view, a few bumps here and there is par for the course. He isn’t going to drive his dumper truck to its doom. He wants to use it as a weapon.