When budgets expand, not all ministries grow equally. A handful absorb a disproportionate share of incremental spending, and that concentration usually tells us more about policy direction than headline allocations ever do. Looking at expenditure growth over the last five years, five ministries stand out, not just for how much their budgets increased, but for how differently that money is being used. This deep dive looks at where the additional spending is actually landing in

Budgets don’t reveal priorities through speeches. They reveal them through what keeps getting more money, year after year. If you strip the Union Budget of commentary and look only at how ministry-level spending has grown since 2020-21, a clear picture emerges: India isn’t just spending more, it’s spending differently. Some parts of the state are expanding rapidly.  Others are stabilising.  And a few are quietly stepping back. This chapter looks at where government spending h