By NC Bipindra

New Delhi: India, on Thursday (June 4, 2026), increased the financial powers of military commanders up to threefold to enable quicker arms procurement worth INR 125,000 crore to meet operational readiness requirements, especially sustenance of weapons and defence systems, and execution of infrastructure projects.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the revision in the financial powers of commanders of the army, navy, and air force operational formations to enable “faster conclusion of contracts and execution of projects to strengthen the operational efficiency.”

Rajnath Singh, in New Delhi, released the revised Delegation of Financial Powers for the Defence Services, including medical and works projects, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement, released by the Press Information Bureau (PIB).

“The enhancement in the Financial Powers has been made up to 100%, and even more than double in some cases. This would further strengthen the operational efficiency of field commanders, and lead to faster conclusion of contracts & execution of projects,” the statement said.

The Financial Powers delegated for indigenisation and Research & Development within the military ecosystem have been doubled to boost Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence by minimising the dependency on Foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers, the statement noted.

“The revised delegation of financial powers will facilitate procurement of more than INR 125,000 crore through the revenue route, as per current year budgetary allocations,” it said.

Defence Ministry officials said the financial ceiling at the disposal of service chiefs was increased from INR 75 crore to INR 150 crore per project, while for field commanders it was raised from INR 30 crore to INR 100 crore per project.

Special financial powers delegated to army, navy, and air force commanders were increased significantly, along with a 100% increase in the total ceiling provided to meet urgent operational requirements.

The financial powers, though, would not be the same for every formation commander, as their operational requirements would dictate their funding ceiling.

Operational formations such as the Northern Army Command would receive more funds for procurements under the new financial powers, in view of both the border situations and the internal security role it would play.

The revenue expenditure, for which the financial powers were delegated, would meet sustenance-related spending, besides works for infrastructure development.

In addition to the enhancement in financial powers, new provisions were included to promote joint service procurement by the lead force with higher delegation than the normal procurement.

Many new Competent Financial Authorities have been introduced to decentralise the procurement of Goods and Services.

Financial Powers were last notified in 2021. The revision was necessitated due to the expansion in force level and to cater to the increased expenditure on operations and sustenance vis-à-vis the increase in budgetary allocation.

“This revised delegation of financial powers, along with the revised Defence Procurement Manual notified in October 2025, will give a fillip to defence procurement with expeditious decision-making. This will lead to the timely availability of resources as per the needs of the defence forces,” the MoD said.

Chief of Defence Staff General NS Raja Subramani, Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, Secretary (Ex-servicemen Welfare) Sukriti Likhi, Secretary (Defence Finance) Vishvajit Sahay, Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor, Controller General of Defence Accounts Anugraha Narayana Das and other senior officials were present when the document was released.

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