Union Budget 2023: Defence Ministry sees Rs 27,000 crore jump in funds

Rs 5.94 lakh crore for defence, boost for troops’ preparedness near the LAC and border connectivity

With tension simmering at India’s northern borders with China, the Defence Ministry is set to receive more than Rs 27,000 crore extra primarily for operational preparedness of troops on the northern front, besides sanctioning more money to improve infrastructure near the Line of Actual Control.

With Rs 5.94 lakh crore, the Defence Ministry’s proposed allocation is the highest among all ministries even though a bulk of it would be utilised to pay salary and pension, leaving Rs 1.62 lakh crore – less than a quarter of the total allocation – for capital acquisition.

The non-salary revenue allocations for operations get a boost of Rs 27,570 crore, with the budgetary outlay under this segment augmented from Rs 62,431 crore in BE 2022-23 to Rs 90,000 crore in BE 2023-24.

This, according to a Defence Ministry official, would cater to the sustenance of weapon systems, platforms like ships, aircraft and their logistics; boost fleet serviceability; emergency procurement of critical ammunition and spares; procuring niche capabilities to mitigate capability gaps, progress in the stocking of military reserves and strengthening the forward defence.

In keeping with a focus on infrastructure development, the capital budget of the Border Roads Organisation has been increased by 43 per cent to Rs 5,000 crore in FY 2023-24 as against Rs 3,500 crore in FY 2022-23. This is for the second successive year that a big thrust has been given on improving the road links close to India’s disputed border with China.

This year’s allocation, said the official, would boost border connectivity by creating strategically important links like Sela tunnel, Nechipu tunnel and Sela-Chhabrela tunnel.

The Defence Pension budget registers a notable jump of 15.5 per cent in FY 2023-24. In absolute terms, this amount is Rs 1,38, 205 crore in BE 2023-24 against Rs 1,19,696 crore in BE 2022-23.

But the revised estimate in 2022-23 put the allocation at Rs 1,53,415 crore recording a significant jump of 28%, amounting to Rs 33, 718 crores. This happened because an additional amount of Rs 28,138 crore was needed to meet the requirement on account of the revision of armed forces pensioners and family pensioners under the One Rank One Pension scheme.