Ministry of Defence (India)

Ministry of Defence
Branch of Government of India
Ministry_of_Defence_India.svg
Ministry of Defence
Ministry overview
Formed15 August 1947; 77 years ago (1947-08-15)
Preceding Ministry
  • Department of Defence (1938–47)
JurisdictionGovernment of India
HeadquartersSecretariat Building
Raisina Hill, New Delhi
28°36′50″N 77°12′32″E / 28.61389°N 77.20889°E / 28.61389; 77.20889
Employees1,400,000[1][2] (active personnel) (2023)

700,000[3] (reserve personnel) (2023)

200,000[4] (civilian) (2014)
Annual budget₹6.21 lakh crore (US$74 billion) (2024)[5]
Minister responsible
Deputy Minister responsible
Ministry executives
Child agencies
Websitemod.gov.in
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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) (romanized: Raksha Mantralay) is charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the ceremonial commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the country. The Ministry of Defence provides policy framework and resources to the armed forces to discharge their responsibility in the context of the country's defence. The Indian Armed Forces (including Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy) and Indian Coast Guard under the Ministry of Defence are primarily responsible for ensuring the territorial integrity of India.

As per Statista, MoD is the largest employer in the world[10] with 29.2 lakh (2.92 million) employees.[11][12][13]

At present, the new creation of National Defence University, for the training of military officials and concerned civilian officials, will be administered and overseen by the Ministry. The Ministry organises and runs Republic Day celebrations and parade every year in January at Rajpath, hosting a chief guest. The Ministry has the largest budget among the federal departments of India and currently stands third in military expenditure in the world,[14][15][16] among countries of the world.[17]

  1. ^ "Press Information Bureau". Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  2. ^ "20% Sailor Shortage in Navy, 15% Officer Posts Vacant In Army, Nirmala Sitharaman Tells Parliament". 27 December 2023.
  3. ^ IISS 2023, pp. 243–248
  4. ^ "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  5. ^ {https://prsindia.org/files/budget/budget_parliament/2024/Interim_Union_Budget_Analysis-2024-25.pdf}
  6. ^ "Govt appoints Rajesh Kumar Singh as Defence Secretary". Business Today. 16 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Defence Secretary of R&D DRDO- Defence secretary R&D". Drdo.gov.in. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  8. ^ "DRDO". Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Defence Secretary of R&D DRDO". Drdo.gov.in. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  10. ^ "Indian Defence Ministry : नौकरी देने में रक्षा मंत्रालय दुनियाभर में सबसे आगे, अमेरिका व चीन भी पीछे". Amar Ujala (in Hindi). Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  11. ^ "The World's Biggest Employers". Statista Infographics. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  12. ^ "India's Ministry of Defence is the world's biggest employer with 2.92 million people: Report". Times Now. 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  13. ^ "With 2.92 million people, Indian defence ministry is world's biggest employer". The Times of India. 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  14. ^ Behera, Laxman K. (2 February 2018). "Defence Budget 2018-19: The Imperative of Controlling Manpower Cost". Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  15. ^ Peri, Dinakar (1 February 2018). "Modest hike in defence budget, pensions see sharp rise". The Hindu. New Delhi. ISSN 0971-751X. OCLC 13119119. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  16. ^ Pandit, Rajat (1 February 2018). "Budget 2018: Govt hikes defence budget by 7.81%, but it's just 1.58% of GDP & lowest since 1962". The Times of India. New Delhi. OCLC 23379369. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  17. ^ Tian, Nan; Fleurant, Aude; Wezeman, Pieter D.; Wezeman, Siemon T. (April 2017). "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2016" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 24 April 2017.