India pays $35.18 million to UN Regular Budget for 2026

• India has paid $35.18 million to the UN Regular Budget for 2026, joining the ‘honour roll’ of 51 Member States who have paid their regular budget dues in full on time.

• The UN Committee on Contributions said that as of February 5, 2026, as many as 51 Member States have paid their regular budget assessments in full, within the 30 day due period specified in UN financial regulations.

• India has consistently been among the countries to pay its contributions to the UN budget on time and in full. 

• The General Assembly has approved a $3.45 billion regular budget for the United Nations for 2026.

Where does the UN get its money from?

• The UN gets its money basically from all the countries. There are 193 Member States. 

• The UN regular budget funds the core administrative costs of the organisation, including the UN General Assembly, Security Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice, special political missions, and human rights entities. 

• The regular budget is adopted by the Assembly and covers one calendar year (January 1 to December 31). 

• It is separate from the United Nations peacekeeping budget, which operates on a July 1 to June 30 fiscal cycle.

• Most Assembly decisions related to the budget are adopted by consensus. 

• When budget votes occur (which is rare) decisions are made by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting, with each country having one vote. 

• The General Assembly determines a regular budget scale of assessments every three years based on a country’s capacity to pay. 

• The amount paid by Member States is based on a complex formula that includes the size of each country’s economy. Other elements include the country’s external debt, income per capita, and level of development. 

• The amounts range from a high of 22 per cent of the budget to 0.001 per cent, paid by the least developed countries.

What happens if a country doesn’t pay its UN dues?

If the amount that a country owes is equal to what they were assessed to pay for the previous two years, they lose their vote in the UN General Assembly. They don’t get that vote back unless the General Assembly makes a special decision, or they pay enough to get below the two-year threshold, so they try to avoid owing that much.

What is the Fifth Committee?

• The Fifth Committee is the General Assembly’s main Administrative and Budgetary Committee, where all financial and programme matters concerning the UN system are discussed.

• Every year, it considers and approves the organisation’s budget.

Other main committees of General Assembly are: 

• First Committee (Disarmament & International Security)

• Second Committee (Economic & Financial)

• Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian & Cultural)

• Fourth Committee (Special Political & Decolonization)

• Fifth Committee (Administrative & Budgetary)

• Sixth Committee (Legal).

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)