Defence ministry increases military commanders’ powers twofold to buy arms faster for operational needs

New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence has hiked the powers of military commanders to enable quicker arms purchases to meet immediate operational requirements, enabling an annual spending worth ₹1.25 lakh.

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

Rajnath Singh released the revised “Delegation of Financial Powers for the Defence Services” document, which included approvals for medical projects and infrastructure works, on Thursday, the defence ministry said in a statement.

“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 Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence by minimizing the dependency on foreign original equipment manufacturers, the statement noted.

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

The financial ceiling for service chiefs was increased from ₹75 crore to ₹150 crore per project, while for field commanders it was raised from ₹30 crore to ₹100 crore per project, defence officials said.

Special financial powers delegated to military 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 officials said.

Enhanced spending powers for sustenance

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 decentralize 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 defence ministry said.

The ministry had, in February 2026, released draft defence acquisition procedures that would govern new arms purchases and defence equipment contracts under the capital budget over the next five years.

But it is yet to be implemented, three months after it received comments from policy wonks and industry bodies on any amendments required to the eagerly awaited new policy.

The revenue budget contracts and procurements are governed by the Defence Procurement Manual, which was released in October 2025 in two volumes. The present enhancement of financial powers for military field commanders would be covered under the manual.