Data from the Ministry of Defence means that India’s spend on defence research has grown far lower than headline numbers point out.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spent ₹13,258 crore on R&D in 2014-15. By 2024-25, this had risen 87 per cent to ₹24,793 crore, which, at first look, seems to sign a gradual growth of research effort. But that is in nominal phrases. Adjusted for financial system-huge inflation, utilizing the GDP deflator, the actual annual development is just one.5–2 per cent.
The image turns into starker when taking a look at how this cash is spent. The portion dedicated to particular tasks and programmes — missile programs, plane engines, radars and the like — has moved from ₹3,770 crore in 2014–15 to about ₹5,900 crore in 2025–26. After adjusting for inflation, this means just about no development in actual phrases over the interval.
This additionally suggests a shift in composition: While general spending has elevated, the share going to R&D tasks has not saved tempo. A rising proportion of the price range seems to be absorbed by institution prices quite than programme funding.
Budget tendencies reinforce this concern. In 2025–26, the allocation for defence R&D was raised by 12 per cent, from ₹23,855 crore to ₹26,817 crore. Yet the revised estimate got here in barely decrease, at ₹26,747 crore, indicating that even the allotted funds weren’t totally utilised.
The enhance over the earlier 12 months’s revised estimate was about 8 per cent.
Spending on tasks and programmes grew solely about 9 per cent in 2024–25.
The sample raises a broader query: Is increased allocation translating into extra research?
The Budget for 2026-27 supplies ₹29,100 crore for DRDO, a ten per cent enhance 12 months-on-12 months. Whether this ends in a significant enhance in programme spending — or is once more absorbed by prices — stays to be seen.
A wider sample
This state of affairs isn’t distinctive to defence research spending.
Across six key science departments — science and know-how, biotechnology, scientific and industrial research, house, atomic vitality, and Earth sciences — authorities R&D spending rose from ₹28,014 crore in 2020–21 to ₹39,057 crore in 2024–25. That interprets to a nominal annual development fee of about 8.8 per cent. Adjusted for inflation, nevertheless, the actual development fee is just 2–3 per cent a 12 months.
The sample is constant: headline will increase masks modest actual growth.
India’s gross expenditure on research and improvement (GERD) has remained caught at 0.6–0.7 per cent of the GDP for over a decade. This isn’t merely as a result of the GDP has grown quickly, but in addition as a result of R&D spending has struggled to develop meaningfully in actual phrases.
Efficiency issue
It will be argued that restricted sources have been used effectively. India’s rank within the Global Innovation Index has improved considerably over the previous decade, and authorities-backed schemes in areas comparable to biotechnology have helped begin-ups elevate comply with-on funding and generate mental property.
But these are, at finest, partial indicators. Improvements in innovation rankings replicate a broad set of things, and begin-up success in particular sectors isn’t a fill-in for sustained funding in core research capabilities. The extra elementary query stays unanswered: What may outcomes appear to be if actual R&D spending grew quicker?
For a rustic searching for technological self-reliance, notably in sectors comparable to defence, flat actual spending and stagnant programme outlays should not impartial outcomes. They indicate a slower construct-up of capabilities, no matter enhancements in effectivity on the margins. India might certainly be getting extra worth out of every rupee. But over the previous decade, it has not been placing considerably extra actual sources into research.
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Published on March 23, 2026