New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced the Union Budget 2026. In the Budget, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was allocated
a total of Rs 22,118 crore as against current fiscal’s Budget Estimate of Rs 20,516 crore and revised estimate of Rs 21,742 crore.
Who gets what?
Bhutan was allocated the largest share of Rs 2,288 crore as development aid in the Union Budget for 2026-27. It was followed by Nepal which received Rs 800 crore and the Maldives and Mauritius who got Rs 550 crore each.
The total overseas development partnership portfolio for 2025-26 has been pegged at Rs 6,997 crore which is little over 31 per cent of the allocation made to the MEA. Out of the total allocation under the overseas development partnership portfolio, more than half has been kept aside for the country’s immediate neighbours, which is about Rs 4,548 crore.
Another important beneficiary was Afghanistan, the Taliban-ruled regime with which India has recently re-established good relations. The allocation to Afghanistan for 2025-26 was Rs 100 crore. Another country who saw changes in monetary allocations due to recent changes in relationship was Bangladesh, for whom the situation is contrary to what is with Afghanistan. For the next fiscal, the allocation for Bangladesh has been pegged at Rs 60 crore, this is half of what stood in 2025-26. The recent strained relationship between the two countries can be attributed to this fall.
Much of these amounts are expected to be used to build several infrastructure projects such as hydroelectric plants, power transmission lines, and bridges. Grass-roots level community development projects and other social sector services may also be developed.
Another important development that pertains to the current geopolitical climate is that no allocation has been made for the Chabahar Port project in Iran as tensions between the US and Iran continue to escalate and uncertainty in the region remains unabated.
