A 44 per cent hike has been made in the allocations for building projects for the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Central Police Organisations in the union budget for the 2026-27 fiscal that was presented on Sunday.

On the other hand, the budgetary provisions for the development and maintenance of border infrastructure have seen only a marginal hike of about three percent, whereas allocations for the modernisation of CAFPs have dipped sharply by over 40 percent.

The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, has proposed Rs 5,393.37 crore for CAPF building projects in 2026-27 compared to the revised estimates of Rs 3684.23 crore for the 2025-26 fiscal. The actual expenditure for 2024-25 was Rs 2133.18 crore, according to data contained in the budget documents.

The building projects for the CAPFs, which include the National Security Guard, Assam Rifles, Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Shashtra Seema Bal, Central reserve Police Force and the Central Industrial Security Force, focus on constructing office accommodation, residential units, barracks, hospitals and allied facilities for providing better service conditions and amenities to their personnel and families.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has granted the status of Public Works Organisation (PWO) to the engineering wings of the CAPFs so that they can undertake and expedite their own infrastructure construction requirements.

Earlier, they had to utilise the services of central and state Public Works Departments, which were already over-burdened with work and also led to procedural delays. Financial limits have been laid for construction projects and repair works that CAPFs can execute under delegated powers to be exercised by stipulated technical officers.

The construction requirements of the CAPFs are diverse and widespread, mostly in remote areas. These forces have a significant presence in high altitude and inhospitable terrain, where construction of infrastructure is difficult. As far as border infrastructure and management is concerned, the proposed allocation for 2026-27 is Rs 5576.51 crore.

This includes a capital outlay of Rs 5,266.51 crore and a revenue expenditure of Rs 310 crore for maintenance and border check posts. The total revised estimates in 2026-27 were Rs 5,472.31 crore, whereas the actual expenditure for 2024-25 was Rs 3,953.84 crore.

The allocation for modernisation for CAPFs under Plan-IV has dropped from the revised estimates of Rs 610.79 crore in 2025-26 to Rs 343.66 crore for 2025-26. The plan, when conceived, covered the period from February 2022 to March 2026 for upgrading their operational capabilities and making them more tech-savvy.