After Operation Sindoor, the Centre to increase India's defense budget; There may be an increase of Rs 50,000 crore

India's defence budget may see a hike of Rs 50,000 crore after Operation Sindoor, government sources said. The proposal to allocate an additional Rs 50,000 crore through the supplementary budget has been put forward, sources said. With this, the total defence budget will cross Rs 7 lakh crore, sources said.

The central government has allocated a huge amount for acquiring new weapons, ammunition and technology, national media reported, citing official sources. This is likely to be approved in the winter session of Parliament. In the 2025-26 budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, a record Rs 6.81 lakh crore was allocated for the armed forces. This year's allocation was a 9.2 percent increase from Rs 6.22 lakh crore in 2024-25.

Since 2014, defence has been the focus of the Narendra Modi government. The Defence Ministry was allocated Rs 2.29 lakh crore in the first year of the BJP government, 2014-15. The current allocation is the highest among all ministries, at 13 per cent of the total budget.

India's defence budget has been increased amid ongoing tensions with Pakistan, following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, India's military response to target terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of the superiority of Indian defence. Attacks and defences using modern systems were internationally considered to be the most expensive wars in recent times. The Prime Minister had praised the capabilities of India's own advanced weapons in his address to the nation after Operation Sindoor.