The MHA gets Rs 2.33 lakh crore in the Union Budget, with the CRPF on top
Subhashis Mittra
A whopping Rs 2,33,210.68 crore has been allocated to the ministry of home affairs (MHA), with the lion’s share of Rs 1,60,391.06 crore going to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs)—CRPF, BSF and CISF.
While the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the largest among CAPFs with 3.25 lakh personnel, got Rs 35,147.17 crore, up from a revised estimate of Rs 34,328.61 crore in 2024-25, the Border Security Force (BSF) got Rs 28,231.27 crore (Rs 27,895.73 crore in 2024-25), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Rs 16,084.83 crore (Rs 15,272.22 crore in 2024-25), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Rs 10,370 crore (Rs 9,861.14 crore in 2024-25), the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Rs 10,237.28 crore (Rs 9,834.59 crore in 2024-25) and the Assam Rifles Rs 8,274.29 crore (Rs 7,855.23 crore in 2024-25).
The CRPF is mostly deployed for maintenance of internal security, operations against terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, dealing with Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in central and eastern parts of the country, where more than a lakh of its troops are deployed, and insurgents in the northeast (see box).
The BSF guards India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh and it is also deployed for internal security duties. With around 2.65 lakh personnel, it is tasked with guarding the international boundaries with Pakistan and Bangladesh. The CISF is responsible for protection of highly sensitive vital installations, like nuclear plants, airports and metro networks. With around 1.90 lakh personnel it also guards the Parliament House complex. The ITBP secures the India-China border with its 98,000 personnel, while the SSB guards the India-Nepal and India-Bhutan borders. Likewise, the Assam Rifles protect India’s border with Myanmar.
The Black Cats counter-terrorist and counter-hijack force National Security Guard (NSG) has been allocated more than Rs 1,274 crore for the upcoming fiscal against Rs 1,196 crore in 2024-25. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been allocated Rs 3,893.35 crore (Rs 3,966.21 crore in 2024-25), the Delhi Police got Rs 11,931.66 crore (Rs 11,467.62 crore in 2024-25) and the Special Protection Group (SPG) got Rs 489.00 crore (Rs 510.97 crore in 2024-25). The IB is India’s internal intelligence agency, the Delhi Police guards the national capital and the SPG provides security to the prime minister.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police, which now comes under the direct control of the central government, has been allocated Rs 9,325.73 crore (Rs 8,665.94 in 2024-25). The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was allocated Rs 1,922.59 crore (Rs 1,838.38 crore in 2024-25) and the Modernisation of Police Forces was allocated Rs 4,069.24 crore (Rs 2,623.74 crore in 2024-25).
In the 2024-25 Union Budget, the overall allocation for the ministry was Rs 2,19,643.31 crore. In the current budget, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman earmarked Rs 41,000.07 crore to Jammu and Kashmir, which became a Union Territory after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
While Rs 6,212.06 crore has been given to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Rs 6,187.48 crore has been allocated to Chandigarh, Rs 2,780 crore to Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Rs 4,692.15 crore to Ladakh, Rs 1,586.16 crore to Lakshadweep and Rs 3,432.20 crore to Puducherry. With the MHA, Rs 5,597.25 crore has been allocated to the Border Infrastructure and Management, Rs 4,379.20 crore has been given for developing police infrastructure, Rs 960.12 crore for schemes related to women’s safety, Rs 12,491.17 crore for various central sector projects and schemes sponsored by the home ministry, Rs 4,876.34 crore for security-related expenditure and Rs 1,056.40 crore for the Vibrant Villages Programme.
More Funds to CRPF to Fight LWE
The Union Budget 2025-26 has pegged Rs 3,481.27 crore for security-related expenditure (SRE) and the Special Infrastructure Scheme for Naxal-hit areas. The amount is higher than Rs 2,463.62 crore and was allocated under this head in the budget for 2024-25.
The increased allocation is considered significant in the wake of Union home minister Amit Shah’s repeated statements inside and outside Parliament that the Narendra Modi government is committed to wipe out Naxalism from the country by March 2026. The CRPF has set up a new operations base in the heart of a strong Maoist corridor in Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar region as part of its expanding footprint into core LWE-affected areas of the state.
Out of the 81 ultras gunned down in the state so far this year (till mid-February), 65 were killed in the Bastar division, which comprises Bijapur and six other districts. As many as 38 Naxalites were killed following an encounter in the Abhujmaad area along the Narayanpur-Dantewada inter-district border in the Bastar region in October last year. Last year itself, 219 Naxalites were neutralised by security forces in separate encounters in Chhattisgarh, while six Maoists were killed in Odisha in 2024.