Jane Edwards
A new report by IHS says India has posted a 13.1 percent rise in its military budget for 2016 to 2017 due to the launch of the One Rank, One Pension program and salary increases to service personnel.
The increase in India’s defense budget has made it the world’s top four defense spender, IHS said Wednesday.
“Growth in the Indian budget is expected to outpace that of all other major defense spenders over the next five years,” said Craig Caffrey, principal analyst at IHS Jane’s.
“The strain on the equipment budget was inevitable given the pressures of OROP and the seventh pay commission, but we should now see a period of sustained growth in procurement spending,” Caffrey added.
IHS said it forecasts India’s defense budget and procurement spending to hit $64.8 billion and $15 billion, respectively, by 2020 as the country moves to update its armored vehicles and increase its fleet of combat aircraft.
India was ranked sixth in the 2015-2016 period, while the U.S., China and the U.K. were in the top three.
