State-wise Per Capita Representation in the Indian Armed Forces

Indian armed forces bring together people from all corners of the country, but the level of participation isn’t the same everywhere. Looking at state-wise per capita representation helps us see recruitment patterns compared to their population size. It gives a clearer picture of how different states take part in the armed forces and can also show patterns in recruitment and local interest in military service.

For this post, I’ve taken data from a question answered in Indian parliament in April 2022. File linked at end of the post, if you want it. Population figures are of 2023 taken from Wikipedia. Due to obvious reasons, there will be some errors in exact per capita numbers. So they should be taken as general figures, not absolute.

For Jammu & Kashmir, I’ve calculated numbers of Jammu separately, assuming the population to be a bit less than that of Kashmir. A huge majority of uniformed personnel recruited from the state are from Jammu while contribution of muslim majority Kashmir is so small so as to be negligible.

Overall, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand send most number of people per capita to Army as well as all 3 armed forces overall.

Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep and Haryana send most people to Navy.

Haryana, Uttarakhand and Manipur send most to Air Force.

I had posted Indian Army’s recruitment figures by state in 2022, which you can check out on this link. If you find any errors, please leave a comment or contact me on twitter at https://x.com/JaidevJamwal.

NOTE: For Indian Army, data of only Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Other Ranks (ORs) is available, but not for the officers. So there may be some change in numbers when that dataset is included.

	State/UT	JCO	OR	Total		JCO	OR	Total
1	Andaman & Nicobar	52	797	849		12.90	197.77	210.67
2	Andhra Pradesh	3648	39278	42926		6.86	73.89	80.75
3	Arunachal Pradesh	135	2871	3006		8.64	183.80	192.45
4	Assam	1537	18515	20052		4.30	51.84	56.15
5	Bihar	8152	65248	73400		6.43	51.48	57.91
6	Chandigarh	26	79	105		2.11	6.42	8.53
7	Chhattisgarh	466	9427	9893		1.54	31.24	32.78
8	DN Haveli	0	1	1		0.00	0.08	0.08
9	Daman & Diu	6	421	427		2.45	171.84	174.29
10	Delhi	398	2116	2514		2.21	11.76	13.97
11	Goa	15	204	219		0.95	12.95	13.90
12	Gujarat	819	21214	22033		1.15	29.67	30.81
13	Haryana	7803	58107	65910		25.83	192.35	218.18
14	Himachal Pradesh	5948	43442	49390		79.65	581.71	661.36
15	Jammu & Kashmir	4361	42494	46855		32.06	312.39	344.45
16	Jharkhand	1274	15918	17192		3.23	40.33	43.56
17	Karnataka	2268	30064	32332		3.35	44.41	47.76
18	Kerala	4351	33180	37531		12.16	92.74	104.91
19	Lakshadweep	1	228	229		1.43	325.71	327.14
20	Madhya Pradesh	3350	43691	47041		3.87	50.46	54.33
21	Maharashtra	6338	78035	84373		5.01	61.74	66.76
22	Manipur	847	7718	8565		26.28	239.47	265.75
23	Meghalaya	113	1538	1651		3.37	45.92	49.30
24	Mizoram	157	2944	3101		12.68	237.80	250.48
25	Nagaland	192	3489	3681		8.60	156.25	164.85
26	Odisha	2945	20736	23681		6.36	44.81	51.17
27	Puducherry	18	181	199		1.09	11.00	12.09
28	Punjab	8158	82132	90290		26.55	267.27	293.82
29	Rajasthan	8605	71429	80034		10.62	88.16	98.78
30	Sikkim	44	1782	1826		6.39	258.64	265.02
31	Tamil Nadu	5261	45396	50657		6.84	59.06	65.91
32	Telangana	611	10187	10798		1.60	26.74	28.35
33	Tripura	116	1818	1934		2.80	43.84	46.64
34	Uttar Pradesh	18407	144317	162724		7.81	61.23	69.04
35	Uttarakhand	7449	52529	59978		64.01	451.40	515.41
36	West Bengal	5487	49384	54871		5.54	49.84	55.38
37	Bhutan	1	13	14		0.14	1.79	1.93
38	Nepal	2336	20654	22990		7.51	66.37	73.88
39	Jammu	4361	42494	46855		72.68	708.23	780.92

						PER 1 LAKH
		OFFICERS	SAILORS	TOTAL		OFFICERS	SAILORS	TOTAL
1	Andaman & Nicobar	16	112	128		3.97	27.79	31.76
2	Andhra Pradesh	601	3677	4278		11.31	69.17	8.05
3	Arunachal Pradesh	5	9	14		3.20	5.76	0.90
4	Assam	42	763	805		1.18	21.36	2.25
5	Bihar	540	5964	6504		4.26	47.05	5.13
6	Chandigarh	54	21	75		43.87	17.06	6.09
7	Chhattisgarh	49	187	236		1.62	6.20	0.78
8	Delhi	534	627	1161		29.67	34.83	6.45
9	Goa, Daman & Diu	35	92	127		22.22	58.41	8.06
10	Gujarat	80	652	732		1.12	9.12	1.02
11	Haryana	776	6237	7013		25.69	206.46	23.21
12	Himachal	303	1937	2240		40.57	259.37	29.99
13	Jammu	144	1024	1168		10.59	75.28	8.59
14	Jharkhand	116	1311	1427		2.94	33.22	3.62
15	Karnataka	502	1052	1554		7.42	15.54	2.30
16	Kerala	1033	2542	3575		28.87	71.05	9.99
17	Madhya Pradesh	393	3043	3436		4.54	35.15	3.97
18	Maharashtra	745	2854	3599		5.89	22.58	2.85
19	Manipur	56	459	515		17.38	142.41	15.98
20	Meghalaya	9	88	97		2.69	26.28	2.90
21	Mizoram	1	141	142		0.81	113.89	11.47
22	Nagaland	2	139	141		0.90	62.25	6.31
23	Odisha	240	3006	3246		5.19	64.96	7.01
24	Puducherry	13	6	19		7.90	3.65	1.15
25	Punjab	381	1464	1845		12.40	47.64	6.00
26	Rajasthan	374	8202	8576		4.62	101.23	10.58
27	Sikkim	3	162	165		4.35	235.12	23.95
28	Tamil Nadu	579	912	1491		7.53	11.87	1.94
29	Telangana	37	574	611		0.97	15.07	1.60
30	Tripura	8	24	32		1.93	5.79	0.77
31	Uttar Pradesh	1486	11946	13432		6.30	50.69	5.70
32	Uttarakhand	413	1578	1991		35.49	135.60	17.11
33	West Bengal	277	1888	2165		2.80	19.05	2.19
34	No Data	322		322		#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!
35	Lakshadweep		20	20		0.00	310.21	31.02
36	Nepal		12	12		0.00	0.39	0.04
37	Dadra Nagar Haveli		4	4		0.00	9.93	0.99
38	Jammu	144	1024	1168		24.00	170.67	19.47

						PER 1 LAKH
		OFFICERS	AIRMEN	TOTAL		OFFICERS	AIRMEN	TOTAL
1	Andhra Pradesh	525	3963	4488		0.988	7.455	8.443
2	Assam	69	1386	1455		0.193	3.881	4.074
3	Andaman & Nicobar	6	135	141		1.489	33.499	34.988
4	Arunachal Pradesh	3	82	85		0.192	5.250	5.442
5	Bihar	540	21931	22471		0.426	17.302	17.728
6	Chandigarh	104	71	175		8.448	5.768	14.216
7	Chhattisgarh	84	1032	1116		0.278	3.419	3.698
8	Daman	2	4	6		#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!
9	DN Haveli			0		0.000	0.000	0.000
10	Delhi	729	944	1673		4.050	5.244	9.294
11	Gujarat	147	1216	1363		0.206	1.701	1.906
12	Goa, Daman & Diu	29	43	72		#REF!	#REF!	#REF!
13	Himachal Pradesh	327	1994	2321		4.379	26.701	31.079
14	Haryana	1137	16024	17161		3.764	53.044	56.808
15	Jammu & Kashmir	215	1983	2198		1.581	14.578	16.158
16	Jharkhand	176	2788	2964		0.446	7.064	7.510
17	Karnataka	581	1692	2273		0.858	2.500	3.358
18	Kerala	749	5404	6153		2.094	15.105	17.199
19	Lakshadweep		12	12		0.000	18.612	18.612
20	Ladakh		13	13		0.000	0.388	0.388
21	Madhya Pradesh	522	3758	4280		0.603	4.341	4.943
22	Maharashtra	824	2086	2910		0.652	1.651	2.302
23	Meghalaya	8	53	61		0.239	1.583	1.821
24	Manipur	63	1417	1480		1.955	43.965	45.920
25	Mizoram	5	71	76		0.404	5.735	6.139
26	Nagaland	6	31	37		0.269	1.388	1.657
27	Odisha	225	4194	4419		0.486	9.063	9.549
28	Puducherry	22	61	83		1.337	3.706	5.043
29	Punjab	664	1924	2588		2.161	6.261	8.422
30	Rajasthan	572	15868	16440		0.706	19.584	20.290
31	Sikkim	7	45	52		1.016	6.531	7.547
32	Tamil Nadu	624	1475	2099		0.812	1.919	2.731
33	Tripura	10	216	226		0.241	5.209	5.450
34	Telangana	55	1049	1104		0.144	2.754	2.898
35	Uttar Pradesh	2134	35942	38076		0.905	15.250	16.155
36	Uttarakhand	632	5425	6057		5.431	46.619	52.049
37	West Bengal	299	4538	4837		0.302	4.580	4.882
38	Under verification	48		48		#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!	#DIV/0!
39	Nepal		18	18		0.000	0.058	0.058
40	Jammu	215	1983	2198		3.583	33.050	36.633

	STATE/UT	TOTAL	POPULATION		PER 1 LAKH
1	Andaman & Nicobar	1118	403,000		277.42
2	Andhra Pradesh	51692	53156000		97.25
3	Arunachal Pradesh	3105	1562000		198.78
4	Assam	22312	35713000		62.48
5	Bihar	102375	126756000		80.77
6	Chandigarh	355	1231000		28.84
7	Chhattisgarh	11245	30180000		37.26
8	DN Haveli	5	1263000		0.40
9	Daman & Diu	433	245000		176.73
10	Delhi	5348	18000000		29.71
11	Goa	418	1575000		26.54
12	Gujarat	24128	71507000		33.74
13	Haryana	90084	30209000		298.20
14	Himachal Pradesh	53951	7468000		722.43
15	Jammu & Kashmir	50221	13603000		369.19
16	Jharkhand	21583	39466000		54.69
17	Karnataka	36159	67692000		53.42
18	Kerala	47259	35776000		132.10
19	Lakshadweep	261	70000		372.86
20	Madhya Pradesh	54757	86579000		63.25
21	Maharashtra	90882	126385000		71.91
22	Manipur	10560	3223000		327.65
23	Meghalaya	1809	3349000		54.02
24	Mizoram	3319	1238000		268.09
25	Nagaland	3859	2233000		172.82
26	Odisha	31346	46276000		67.74
27	Puducherry	301	1646000		18.29
28	Punjab	94723	30730000		308.24
29	Rajasthan	105050	81025000		129.65
30	Sikkim	2043	689000		296.52
31	Tamil Nadu	54247	76860000		70.58
32	Telangana	12513	38090000		32.85
33	Tripura	2192	4147000		52.86
34	Uttar Pradesh	214232	235687000		90.90
35	Uttarakhand	68026	11637000		584.57
36	West Bengal	61873	99084000		62.44
37	Bhutan	32	727,000		4.40
38	Nepal	23002	31,120,000		73.91
39	Jammu	46855	6,000,000		780.92
40	No data	370			#DIV/0!
41	Laddakh	13	274,289		4.74

STATE/UT	POPULATION
Andaman & Nicobar	403,000
Andhra Pradesh	53156000
Arunachal Pradesh	1562000
Assam	35713000
Bihar	126756000
Chandigarh	1231000
Chhattisgarh	30180000
Dadar & Nagar Haveli	1263000
Daman & Diu	245000
Delhi	18000000
Goa	1575000
Gujarat	71507000
Haryana	30209000
Himachal Pradesh	7468000
Jammu	13603000
Jharkhand	39466000
Karnataka	67692000
Kerala	35776000
Lakshadweep	70000
Madhya Pradesh	86579000
Maharashtra	126385000
Manipur	3223000
Meghalaya	3349000
Mizoram	1238000
Nagaland	2233000
Odisha	46276000
Puducherry	1646000
Punjab	30730000
Rajasthan	81025000
Sikkim	689000
Tamil Nadu	76860000
Telangana	38090000
Tripura	4147000
Uttar Pradesh	235687000
Uttarakhand	11637000
West Bengal	99084000
Bhutan	727,000
Nepal	31,120,000
Jammu	6,000,000
Laddakh	274,289