 "RBI, Reserve Bank of India")
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) record surplus transfer to the government would moderately offset the impact of any likely rise in defence expenditure on public finances.
While the central bank announced ₹13,000 crore more than what was projected in the FY26 Union Budget, from RBI’s surplus transfer as well as dividend from nationalised banks and financial institutions, markets had expected between ₹31,000 crore and ₹80,000 crore more. Had the market expectations been met, the government would have had sufficient money to meet higher defence expenditure without affecting projected expenditure on other heads, particularly capital, and meet the fiscal deficit
