India on Saturday proposed defence spending of 6.81 trillion rupees ($78.70 billion) for the 2025-26 fiscal year, up 9.5% from the previous year's initial estimates, with most eaten up by wages and pensions rather than acquiring new weapons.

Budget documents show that the Centre has allotted Rs 6.81 lakh crore ($78 billion) for defence spending in Union Budget 2025 – a 9.5 per cent increase over last year. India is poised to spend 1.9 per cent of its projected gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.