External aid for Bangladesh halved, no Chabahar allocation in Budget 2026-27

Bhutan, a close development partner, again garnered the largest share of the government’s external aid portfolio, with an outlay of ₹2,288 crore, according to budget documents. This was marginally higher than the allocation of ₹2,150 crore in the budget for 2025-26.

The external affairs ministry was allocated ₹22,119 crore, slightly higher than its outlay of ₹20,517 crore in 2025-26.

The overseas development portfolio of ₹6,998 crore accounted for almost a third of the ministry’s budget, and marked a slight increase over the last year’s allocation of ₹6,750 crore.