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15% rise to keep borders safe, secure
The Morning Standard
|February 02, 2026
THE Centre has allocated ₹7.85 lakh crore for defence in the Union Budget, marking a 15% jump from %6.81 lakh crore last year, even as defence spending remains at 1.9% of the 2026 GDP.
In a push to strengthen national security and focus on indigenous defence production, the allocation, the first since the Operation Sindoor, comes amid a three-front security challenge from Pakistan, China and Bangladesh.
In November, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh had indicated that the ministry was seeking an increase of around 20% in the 2026 Budget, along with a longer-term objective of raising defence expenditure to at least 2.5% of GDP, a level the current allocation does not meet. Nonetheless, defence continues to receive the largest allocation among all ministries in absolute terms.
This story is from the February 02, 2026 edition of The Morning Standard.
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