The revamped Agnipath recruitment model, which guarantees full-term military service to all Agniveers, will undergo a financial review, with higher salaries and future pension and gratuity payouts expected to increase the government’s expenditure, top officials familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
“The higher outgo is expected to be partly offset by savings in training costs. The Agnipath reset will eliminate the need for additional training, reducing costs and keeping expenditure in check.
In any case, national security comes above fiscal considerations,” one of the officials said. The financial implications will be reviewed periodically, a second official said. Chief of Defence Staff General NS Raja Subramani said in a joint cabinet briefing with Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday that the government’s focus is on boosting the armed forces’ operational efficiency, meeting organisational requirements, and fulfilling the aspirations of Agniveers.
The government allocated ₹ 17,396 crore for the Agnipath scheme in the defence budget for 2026-27, marking a 58% jump over the budget estimate of ₹ 11,039 crore in the financial year 2025-26. The budget for the scheme across the three services stood at ₹ 7,471 crore in 2024-25. The defence budget for 2026-27 includes a pension outlay of ₹ 1.71 lakh crore, up from the budget estimate of ₹ 1.60 lakh crore in the financial year 2025-26. The budget accounts for 14.67% of the overall government expenditure, the highest among ministries.
“I want to say only one thing about the budget. As far as the Indian defence forces and the government are concerned, there has never been any shortage, and the primary aspect has been the operational efficiency and the ability of the armed forces to be fully ready at all times. The government’s pension bill has also been steadily rising.
There is no issue there,” he said.
