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New Delhi: India’s defence budget for 2023-24 increased by 12.95 per cent from last year’s allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore to Rs 5.93 lakh crore, with pension constituting a whopping Rs 1.38 lakh crore and salaries of uniformed personnel and civilians amounting to about Rs 1.54 lakh crore.
A total of Rs 1,62,600 crore was set aside to the military for capital expenditure that largely includes purchasing new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware.
For 2022-23, the budgetary allocation for capital outlay was Rs 1.52 lakh crore but the revised estimate showed the expenditure at Rs 1.50 lakh crore. The capital allocations of Rs 1,62,600 crore marked a hike of Rs 10,230 crore over last year's outlay and it is a 6.7 per cent increase. The capital budget of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has been increased to Rs 5,000 crore as against Rs 3,500 crore in 2022-23 which is a hike of 43 per cent.
"The Union Budget for the Financial Year 2023-24 envisages a total outlay of Rs. 45,03,097 crore. Of this, Ministry of Defence has been allocated a total Budget of Rs 5,93,537.64 crore, which is 13.18 per cent of the total GoI Budget," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.
The total revenue expenditure has been pegged at Rs 4,22,162 crore that included Rs 1,38,205 crore for defence pensions, Rs 2,70,120 crore for defence services and Rs 13,837 crore for the Ministry of Defence (Civil).
The capital outlay for the Indian Air Force was the highest at Rs 57,137.09 crore that included Rs 15,721 crore for procurement of aircraft and aero engines. Closer analysis showed that the allocation for procuring additional equipment besides fighter planes saw the maximum hike. From Rs 26,624 crore last year, it increased to Rs 36,223 crore this year. Sources explained that the category takes care of acquisition of new missiles and drones, besides other niche technologies.
An amount of Rs 52,804 crore was set aside as the capital outlay for the Indian Navy as against Rs 47,590 crore given to the force in 2022-23. India plans to spend nearly 24,200 crores ($3 billion) for naval fleet construction.
“The Armed Forces have to be battle ready to meet any eventuality. Towards that end, Non-Salary revenue outlay has been enhanced significantly from Rs 62,431 crore in Budget Estimates (BE) 2022-23 to Rs 90,000 crore in BE 2023-24, representing a 44% jump, "a government release said.
The defence allocation has decided to deal with the clear and present danger by focusing more on operational preparedness.
Therefore, “sustenance of weapon systems, platforms including ships and aircraft, their logistics, boosting fleet serviceability, emergency procurement of critical ammunition and spares, procuring and hiring of niche capabilities to mitigate capability gaps wherever required; progress stocking of military reserves, strengthening forward defences, amongst others” have occupied primacy.
The enhanced allocations will also cater to training aids and simulators for Agniveers and ensure that they achieve the set standards of training for induction in the defence forces, it added.
An official release says: “In keeping with the government’s resolve and focus towards maintaining a high level of operational preparedness of the defence services to face current and future challenges, the non-salary revenue/operational allocation gets 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.”
“As a precursor to this increase in the non-salary revenue segment, the government during the mid-term review had also enhanced the operational allotments of the current financial year by Rs 26,000 crore, which works out as 42% of the present allocation.”
On the whole, defence was allocated Rs 5.94 lakh crore in budget 2023-24, a jump of 13% over the previous year.
But at the same time, there is primacy on research, development and most importantly, on innovation.
The release adds: “Towards strengthening research and development in defence, the allocation to DRDO has been enhanced by 9%, with a total allocation of Rs 23,264 crore in BE 2023-24.”
“To further foster innovation, encourage technology development and strengthen the defence Industrial eco-system in the country, iDEX and DTIS has been allocated Rs 116 crore and Rs 45 crore respectively representing an enhancement of 93% for iDEX and 95% for DTIS over 2022-23. This will fulfill Ministry of Defence vision to leverage ideas from bright young minds across the country,” the official release adds.
The Union budget for 2023-24 lays down an outlay of Rs 45,03,097 crore, of which, 13.18 per cent (or Rs 5,93,537.64 crore) has been allocated to defence. The total Indian defence budget is estimated at about 2% of GDP
Dr Laxman Kumar Behera, Associate Professor at Special Centre for National Security Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the increase in the allocation has been satisfactory considering the economic headwinds in view of impact of various global developments.
"The budget has given the armed forces a modest hike. The capital outlay for the Indian Navy has been on an upswing for the last few years because of China's increasing presence in the Indian Ocean Region. This is a significant aspect in the defence budget for 2023-24 as well," Behera told PTI.
Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen (retd) Subrata Saha said the budget intends to boost manufacturing and build on India's strength in the digital domain.
"In defence, domestic manufacturing will get further impetus with efforts to also increase exports from India," he said. Saha said the increase in the allocation for the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) will push the border connectivity infrastructure.
Rs 5.94 lakh crore allocated to defence ministry in Union Budget
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from a PTI
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