MC EXCLUSIVE Union Budget 2026 | ‘Long-term view with short-term plans’: Defence allocation lays out future roadmap, says expert

Long-term defence planning with short-term execution

India’s defence budget for 2026–27 reflects a deliberate long-term strategy combined with realistic short-term planning, rather than an attempt to rush large-scale purchases within a single financial year, according to Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Dhruv Katoch.

Speaking to moneycontrol.com, Katoch said the budget had been framed with a clear strategic outlook. “Then this budget, I expected it actually to take a long term view. And within that long term view to have short term plans,” he said, adding that such an approach was essential given the scale and complexity of India’s defence requirements.

He stressed that defence procurement cannot be assessed on a year-to-year basis. “When we are looking at defence procurement, it is not something which has to be carried out within a one year period. It is something which we have to plan for over five to 10 years,” Katoch said.

“There is no way in which India can buy all that we need within this financial year. So this purchasing system I think is going to carry on, in my view, over the next five to 10 years. That is the time period,” he added.

Katoch also expressed confidence that the government would step in later if additional funds were required. “These are still the BEs. This is the budget estimates. If more is required, I’m quite confident that in the revised estimates, that additional amount will also be given,” he said.

Boost to indigenisation and private sector participation

Katoch said the budget also points to a sustained push towards strengthening India’s defence industrial base, with a greater role for private industry alongside the public sector.

“Our biggest weakness has been the defence industrial base because there was no civilian infrastructure. Now that is coming up,” he said. “The public sector can never handle India’s defence requirements. It is just too big. So increasingly, the private sector has to take on the load. That is the way I look at it.”

He said the government was likely to focus on developing defence corridors and encouraging wider participation from smaller firms. “We will be finding more and more small players, you know, in the S&P sector, entering into the defence market,” Katoch said, adding that the overall direction of policy appeared to support this shift.

India, he noted, has already made significant progress in indigenisation. “It used to be a very bad ratio of 70 percent imports and 30 percent indigenous. That has changed radically now. I think it is practically reversed,” he said.

However, Katoch highlighted persistent challenges in critical technologies. “Our weakness in indigenous manufacture is really the engines. The Kaveri engine, I don’t know what we’re going to do about it. And the AMCA, the fighter aircraft,” he said, while noting that naval platforms were performing relatively better.

Integrated, technology-driven military posture

Katoch also underlined the growing emphasis on integration across the armed forces, supported by reforms such as the creation of the Chief of Defence Staff and the move towards theatre commands.

“I think the very fact that we have gone in for a theatre commands, I have a feeling that within this budget itself, there’ll be some infrastructure push towards theatre commands,” he said, adding that future military operations would increasingly be joint in nature.

Referring to recent operations, Katoch said modern warfare had shifted decisively towards standoff engagements, missile systems and drones. “The operations which were conducted this time were standoff ranges and none of the Indian aircraft crossed into Pakistani airspace,” he said, noting that such methods would define future conflicts.

At the same time, he stressed that low-intensity operations in Jammu and Kashmir and vigilance along India’s northern and eastern borders would remain constants.

Overall, Katoch described the defence budget as measured and realistic. “There is no hype about it. Budget shouldn’t be hyped up or hyped down. It’s a standard budget,” he said, adding that viewed through a five- to ten-year planning lens, the provisions for the current financial year were appropriate.