The defence minister should be given the power to clear deals worth up to Rs 200 crore to step up the pace of modernisation of the armed forces, a key parliamentary panel has said.

Terming the current delegation of powers as “meagre and inadequate” because the cost of weapon systems are continuously increasing, Parliament’s standing committee on defence said the financial powers also needed to be raised for the service headquarters and the defence secretary.

Making a case for raising the defence minister’s financial powers, the panel in its latest report tabled in Parliament on Thursday said such a move would facilitate the acquisition of weapon systems. The minister currently has the powers to clear deals worth up to Rs 100 crore.

“The financial powers should be raised to Rs 200 crore if it falls within the budgetary provision of the ministry of defence and there should be no need to get the concurrence of the finance minister,” the committee said.

However, the committee said that if the demand for funds was over and above the budget, the approval of the finance minister should be sought expeditiously.

At the same time, the financial powers of the the services headquarters and the defence secretary also needs to be suitably increased, it said.