India's Military Strength

Table of Contents

Context: The Global Firepower Index, 2022 shows that India is the fourth most powerful Military nation in the world.

The Report

Rank: Index puts the US at the top, Russia at the second spot, China at No. 3, and India at No. 4.
Criteria: Index is calculated using fifty individual factors from geography to logistical capability.
It includes manpower, land forces, airpower, natural resources, naval forces, logistics and financials.
India’s score: India holds a power index score of 0.0979.

With strength of 45 lakh of active military manpower, India is ranked fourth for the year 2022 as per the report. India has 12,000 armored vehicles and 4,614 tanks.
Indian Navy currently has 143 aircraft and 130 helicopters. In addition, 43 ships and submarines are under construction, while initial approval exists for the indigenous construction of 51 ships, six submarines and 111 Naval Utility Helicopters.
India’s total aircraft strength is 2,182, which includes both fixed-wing and rotorcraft platforms from all branches of services.

In the Budget of 2023-24, Ministry of Defence has been allocated a total Budget of Rs 5,93,537.64 crore, which is 13.18 % of the total budget.
The total Defence Budget represents an enhancement of Rs 68,371.49 crore (13%) over the Budget of 2022-23.

According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India remained the world’s largest arms importer for the five-year period between 2018 and 2022.
At the same time, India’s total defence export value stands at Rs 13,399crores ($1.5 Billion) as of 6 March 2023.
- India has an ambitious target of achieving $5 billion in annual defence export by 2024-25.