Military and security service personnel strengths | information varies; approximately 1.5 million active personnel (approximately 1.25 million Army; 65,000 Navy; 140,000 Air Force; 12,000 Coast Guard) (2023) |
---|---|
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | much of the military's inventory consists of Russian- and Soviet-origin equipment; there is a smaller, but growing mix of Western and domestically produced arms; Russia continues to be the leading provider of arms to India, although in recent years India has increased acquisitions from other suppliers, including France, Israel, and the US; it is one of the world's largest importers of arms; India's defense industry is capable of producing a range of air, land, missile, and naval weapons systems for both domestic use and export; it also produces weapons systems under license (2024) |
Military service age and obligation | ages vary by service, but generally 16.5-27 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; no conscription (2023). note 1: in 2022, the Indian Government began recruiting men aged 17.5-21 annually to serve on 4-year contracts under a process called the Agnipath scheme; at the end of their tenure, 25% would be retained for longer terms of service, while the remainder would be forced to leave the military, although some of those leaving would be eligible to serve in the Coast Guard, the Merchant Navy, civilian positions in the Ministry of Defense, and in the paramilitary forces of the Ministry of Home Affairs, such as the Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles note 2: as of 2023, women made up less than 1% of the Army, about 1% of the Air Force, and about 6% of the Navy note 3: the Indian military accepts citizens of Nepal and Bhutan; descendants of refugees from Tibet who arrived before 1962 and have resided permanently in India; peoples of Indian origin from nations such as Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India; eligible candidates from “friendly foreign nations” may apply to the Armed Forces Medical Services note 4: the British began to recruit Nepalese citizens (Gurkhas) into the East India Company Army during the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-1816), and the Gurkhas subsequently were brought into the British Indian Army; following the partition of India in 1947, an agreement between Nepal, India, and Great Britain allowed for the transfer of the 10 regiments from the British Indian Army to the separate British and Indian armies; six regiments of Gurkhas (aka Gorkhas in India) regiments went to the new Indian Army; a seventh regiment was later added |
Military deployments | 1,800 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 200 Golan Heights (UNDOF); 890 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 2,350 South Sudan (UNMISS); 590 Sudan (UNISFA) (2024). note: India has over 6,000 total military and police personnel deployed on UN missions |
Military expenditures | |
Military Expenditures 2023 | 2.3% of GDP (2023 est.) |
Military Expenditures 2022 | 2.1% of GDP (2022 est.) |
Military Expenditures 2021 | 2.2% of GDP (2021 est.) |
Military Expenditures 2020 | 2.5% of GDP (2020 est.) |
Military Expenditures 2019 | 2.4% of GDP (2019 est.) |
Want to know more about India? Check all different factbooks for India below.