Modest hike in defence budget despite ongoing military confrontation with china

Modest hike in defence budget despite ongoing military confrontation with china

NEW DELHI: The defence budget registered a modest hike despite the continuing 33-month long troop confrontation along the frontier with China.

Moreover, the allocation for military modernization was just over one-fourth of the total outlay due to the hefty revenue expenditure and pension bill.

The defence budget was pegged at Rs 5.93 lakh crore ($72.4 billion), which marks just a 1.5% hike over the last fiscal’s revised estimates and 13% over the budgetary estimates. In effect, military modernization will proceed slowly like before, along with the continuing thrust on indigenization in the defence production sector.

The defence budget works out to ju’t 1.97% of the projected GDP for 2023-2024 if the huge defence pension allocation of Rs 1.38 lakh crore for around 35 lakh ex-servicemen and defence civilians is considered. It drops to a mere 1.5% if the pension bill is excluded.

This when military experts have been demanding that India should allocate over 2.5% of the GDP to defence expenditure for building the requisite deterrence against the collusive threat from China and Pakistan.

Even as the armed forces grapple with two `live’ borders, they have critical operational shortages on several fronts, ranging from fighters, submarines and helicopters to modern infantry weapons, anti-tank guided missiles and night-fighting capabilities.

The capital outlay for new weapon systems, platforms and sensors stood at Rs 1.63 lakh crore in the new defence budget, representing an 6.7% hike from budgetary estimates of 2022-2023.

But it was dwarfed by the Rs 2.7 lakh crore revenue expenditure for day-to-day running costs and salaries of the over 14-lakh strong armed forces.

The defence ministry said the `non-salary revenue outlay’ has been enhanced by 44% to touch Rs 90,000 crore towards maintaining a high level of operational military preparedness. ‘This will cater to sustenance of weapon systems, warships and aircraft, and their logistics as well as emergency procurement of critical ammunition and spares,’ an official said.

In the drive to strengthen border infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control, the capital budget of the Border Roads Organization has been increased by 43% to Rs 5,000 crore as against Rs 3,500 crore in the last fiscal.

The revised pension bill In 2022-2023 shot up to Rs 1.53 lakh crore from the original Rs 1.19 lakh crore allocated for it due to the pension hike and arrears for ex-servicemen and their widows announced in December under the one-rank, one-pension (OROP) scheme.