Critical deals in Operation Sindoor year, Defence spending hits six-year high

The Defence Ministry has recorded 62% capital expenditure in the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2025-26 — the highest in the last six years since the 2019-20 fiscal, according to official data.

For the same period in the previous financial year 2024-25, the figure was 41%, as per data. According to the defence ministry, it has achieved 80% (around Rs 1.2 lakh crore) capital expenditure until December 2025.

Among other regular defence procurements, the development, it is understood, is also likely driven by milestone payments of critical procurement deals inked earlier and significant acquisitions made through the emergency route during Operation Sindoor, launched by the Armed Forces in May last year in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.

Data shows that of the capital outlay of Rs 1,80,000 crore in 2025-26, the Defence Ministry spent Rs 1,11,374.67 until November 2025, even as it has spent 67% of its total budget of Rs 6.81 lakh crore during this period, compared to 64% in the same period in 2024-25.

In 2023-24, 53% of the capital budget of Rs 1,62,600 was spent by the ministry, compared to just 48% in the same period in the previous financial year.

Of the total defence budget, 68% was spent in 2023-24 until November-end while it was 64% for the same period in previous FY.

In FYs 2021-22 and 2020-21, 66% and 63% of the total defence budget was spent until November. The capital expenditure until November for FY 2021-22 was 54% and 61% for 2020-21.

Following Operation Sindoor, the three services were tasked with the process of identifying what needs to be procured on a fast-track basis over the next six months till November.

Aside from these, India had inked several significant procurement deals last year. In April last year, India and France had inked an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for the procurement of 26 Rafale aircraft (22 single-seater and four twin-seater) for the Navy.

The procurement included training, simulator, associated equipment, weapons and performance-based logistics as well as additional equipment for the existing Rafale fleet of the IAF.

In June 2025, the Defence Ministry signed 13 contracts worth Rs 1,981.90 crore under the Emergency Procurement (EP) mechanism to “enhance situational awareness, lethality, mobility, and protection for troops deployed in CT environments”.

This included a range of Remotely Piloted Aerial Vehicles (RPAVs), loitering munitions, drones and counter-drone systems to Very Short Range Air Defence Systems (VSHORADs) and radars.

In September last year, the Ministry had signed a Rs 62,370-crore deal with the state-owned HAL for the procurement of 97 Mk1A Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) for IAF. The order comprises 68 fighters and 29 twin-seaters, along with associated equipment.