India’s defence unpreparedness has been the topic of the past week. Is India spending enough on security? Table 1, which shows the sustained increase in spending over the past decade, would tend to suggest that the amount being Budgeted is not the problem.
However, that story may be incomplete. Many would look at Table 2, the share of defence spending in Central expenditure, and note that it has largely trended downwards over the same decade. Indeed, so has defence expenditure as a share of gross domestic product, as shown in Table 3.
Yet Table 4, which compares defence spending across countries — according to estimates from a Swedish NGO — would tell a different story. India, the ninth highest spender on defence in the world, has a defence expenditure-to-GDP ratio that compares well with that of most other countries. The United States and Saudi Arabia are clear outliers.(Click here for charts)
Is it, perhaps, that Budgeted money is not being spent? Table 5 has the story. Indeed, for much of the past decade, the defence ministry was not spending its allocation, with the Revised Estimates well below what was Budgeted. However, starting in 2008-09, that gap has been closed. A K Antony is not sending money back to the finance ministry, the way his predecessors had. And, as Table 6 shows, expenditure on capital — rather than on salaries or maintenance — has increased considerably as a proportion of total spending over the past decade. It appears, therefore, that India’s overall spending patterns are not the problem — the nature of what is being bought is what has led to the angry murmurs of discontent from the army chief, among others. Perhaps Table 7 has the answer. The increase in allocations for the air force, it appears, has outpaced those for the army.