JOIN USUnion Budget: Rs 4.78 lakh crore allocated for defence
India's defence budget saw a marginal increase from last year with an allocation of Rs 3,62,345 crore, notwithstanding the ten-month long Sino-Indian conflict in eastern Ladakh, which is far from getting resolved.
Interestingly, the budget document revealed that the Defence Ministry had spent nearly Rs 21,000 crore more this year presumably to equip the armed forces to take up the two-front challenge against Pakistan and China.
Documents suggest that the Defence Ministry received Rs 20,776 crores of additional funds from the Finance Ministry at the revised estimate stage for spending on construction works for the army, payment for aircraft for the IAF and Navy, and money spent on new warships.
The government hiked the capital outlay for the armed forces by nearly 20 per cent as Rs 1.35 lakh crore has been sanctioned for capital expenditure that would include purchasing of new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware.
“The most significant component in the defence budget is the capital component (used for acquisition). The budget allocation in the last fiscal was 1,13,734 crore that has gone up to 1,35,060 crore. This is an increase of nearly 20 per cent, which is substantial,” Expenditure Secretary T V Somanathan said in a post-budget press conference.
The budget for defence pension has been slashed this fiscal by nearly Rs 18,000 crore, which was needed last year for paying the arrears.
Without the pension expenses, the defence budget is 1.63 per cent of the GDP but with the allocated Rs 1,15,850 crore pension, it goes up to 2.15 per cent. Compared to last year, the defence budget in GDP terms is more.
In a tweet, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sitharaman for increasing the defence budget to Rs 4.78 lakh crore (including the pension) and said the nearly 20 per cent hike in the capital expenditure is the highest-ever increase in the last 15 years.
The defence minister also lauded Sitharaman's budget proposal to open 100 new Sainik schools.