The second Budget of the Modi government’s third term allocated ₹6.81 trillion to defence, marking a 9.5 per cent increase from the ₹6.21 trillion allocated in the July 2024-25 Budget. However, with an allocation of ₹4.88 trillion, revenue expenditure—covering salaries, pensions, maintenance, repairs, and infrastructure—constitutes 71.75 per cent of the total defence budget.
The impact of the latest Budget indicates that the pension bill, which is covered under the head of revenue expenditure, witnessed a 13.8 per cent increase from ₹1.41 trillion in 2024-25 to ₹1.60 trillion in 2025-26. Pensions have generally exceeded 20 per cent or more of the
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