A well-respected Swedish think tank, which announced on Monday that India was now the world’s third-biggest military spender, appears to have overestimated Indian defence spend. In making this determination, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has put India’s defence spend for 2019 at $71.1 billion, behind top spender USA ($732 billion) and China ($261 billion), but ahead of Russia ($65.1 billion) and Saudi Arabia ($61.9 billion). However, the most recent Indian budgetary figures (revised estimates) put Indian defence spending for 2019-20 at Rs 448,820 crore, or about $59.4 billion.
However, the most recent Indian budgetary figures (revised estimates) put Indian defence spending for 2019-20 at Rs 448,820 crore, or about $59.4 billion. That actually puts India at fifth place, behind both Russia and Saudi Arabia. Read More…
