India has admitted that the country's military is short of 13,000 officers and nearly 54,000 other personnel, local media reported Tuesday.

"The Indian Military is facing a shortage of around 13,000 officers and 53,700 personnel below officer rank with the army accounting for bulk of vacancies," Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony was quoted as saying in a written reply to the Parliament Monday.

"Some of the major reasons for vacancies in armed forces include accretion in force level from time to time, availability of multiple and lucrative alternative career avenues with growth of nation's economy, stringent selection and difficult service conditions coupled with perceived high degree of risk," the reply said.

As per 2012 figures, the Indian Armed Forces have a reported strength of 1.45 million active personnel and 2.20 million reserve personnel. In addition, there are approximately 1.40 million paramilitary personnel, making the armed forces one of the world's largest military forces.