Unusually, this year’s speech never mentioned military spending. In fact, defense spending has fallen below 2 percent of GDP for the first time in decades. More than half of India’s defense budget goes to personnel costs. Local defense production grew nearly 17 percent in the past financial year and is up 60 percent since 2019 to 2020. Meanwhile, private Indian companies must incorporate the cost of creating new factories and product lines into their bids.
