Aligning India’s defense spending to the Viksit Bharat vision

Join us as Dr. D.K. Srivastava, Chief Policy Advisor at EY India and a renowned economist, shares his expert insights on the strategic imperatives that shape India's defense budget. In this episode, we cover the the critical topic of India's defense expenditure and its alignment with the nation's vision of becoming Viksit Bharat amidst evolving geopolitical dynamics.

Dr. Srivastava discusses the concerning trend of declining defense spending as a percentage of GDP, which has fallen from nearly 3% in the early 2000s to 1.9% in FY26 (BE). This episode also explores the structure of defense spending, international benchmarks, and the compelling case for establishing a non-lapsable earmarked defense fund.

· India's defense spending has decreased from 2.9% of GDP in 2002–03 to 1.87% in FY26 (BE).

• Compared to global benchmarks, such as Russia and the US, which spend over 3% of GDP on defense, India remains below this threshold.
• The Parliamentary Standing Committee (2022–23) has recommended a benchmark of 3% of GDP for India's defense allocation.

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