The Big News

India's Military Spending 3rd Highest In World: SIPRI Report

Why in News?

• The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has brought out its report
on military expenditure by countries around the world.
• It ranks India’s military spending in 2021 as the 3rd highest in the world.
• It points towards India’s aggressive military modernisation driven by increased defence
imports along with greater focus on indigenisation.
• Report also notes that global military expenditure reached record levels despite the
pandemic.
 What is SIPRI?

• It is an independent international institution that was founded in 1966.

• It is based out of Stockholm.
• It focusses on armed conflict, military expenditure, arms trade as well as disarmament
and arms control.
• SIPRI's organizational purpose is to conduct scientific research on issues such as -
conflict and cooperation of importance for international peace and security, with the goal
of contributing to an understanding for the conditions for a peaceful solution of
international conflicts and sustainable peace.
• It brings out periodic reports on military spending, nuclear arsenal of various countries.
 Global Military Spending

• The global military expenditure in 2021 has reached an all-time high, passing $2 trillion
for the first time.
• The United States ($801 billion), China ($293 billion), India ($77 billion), United
Kingdom ($68 billion) and Russia (66 billion) were the top five defence spenders,
together accounting for 62% of the global expenditure.
• Pakistan was placed at the 23rd spot with $11 billion.
• While China’s actual military expenditure remains shrouded in secrecy, SIPRI noted it
has steadily grown for 27 consecutive years, the longest uninterrupted sequence of hikes
by any country.
 India’s Military Expenditure

• India’s spending was up by 0.9% from 2020 and by 33% from 2012.
• India has prioritised the modernisation of its armed forces and self-reliance in arms
production.
• The country’s military modernisation continues to be hampered by a ballooning revenue
expenditure for day-to-day running costs and salaries for the 15-lakh strong armed forces
as well as a massive pension bill.
• India’s Rs 5.2 lakh crore defence budget for 2022-2023, for instance, includes the huge
Rs 1.2 lakh crore pension bill for the over 33 lakh retired ex-servicemen.
 What does it mean for Indian Armed Forces?

• Low capital expenditure affects modernisation plans.

• The lack of concrete long-term plans to systematically build military capabilities with
proper inter-service prioritization as well as the weak domestic defence industrial base
compounds the problem.
• Consequently, the armed forces continue to grapple with critical shortages on several
fronts.
• In a drive to strengthen the indigenous arms industry, 64% of capital outlays in the 2021
Indian military budget were earmarked for acquisitions of domestically produced arms.
 India’s Defence Exports

• The SIPRI data also shows that roughly 50% of India’s defence exports from 2017 to
2021 were to its immediate neighbour Myanmar, followed by Sri Lanka at 25& and
Armenia at 11%.
• Last month, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt told the Lok Sabha that the value
of India’s arms exports has gone up six-fold since 2014, with the 2021-22 financial year
figure at Rs 11,607 crore, about six times more than the Rs 1,941 crore registered in FY
2014-15.
• At the same time, India reduced its arms imports while still remaining among the world’s
biggest importers.