India’s Defense Budget increased by 8% to Rs 3.19 Lakh Crore, Will it be enough ?

0

NewDelhi : Although the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did not speak a single word on the Defense Sector  in her budget speech, the allocation has increased by 8%  against last financial year.

Out of the total Budget outlay of Rs27,86,349 crore for the current fiscal, Rs 3,18,931.22 crore has been earmarked for Defence (excluding Defence Pension). For Defence Pension, an amount of Rs 1,12,079.57 crore has been provided in Budget Estimate 2019-20. Total Defence Allocation (Rs4,31,010.79 crore), including Defence Pension, accounts for 15.47 per cent of the total Central Government expenditure for the Financial Year 2019-20.

The allocation of Rs 3,18,931.22 crore represents a growth of 7.93 per cent over Budget Estimates (2,95,511.41crore) and 6.87 per cent over Revised Estimates (Rs 2,98,418.72 crore), respectively for the Financial Year 2018-19.

Out of Rs 3,18,931.22 crore allocated for the Financial Year 2019-20, Rs 2,10,682.42 crore for Revenue (Net) expenditure and Rs1,08,248.80 crore for Capital expenditure for the Defence Services and the Organisations/Departments under Ministry of Defence. The amount of Rs 1,08,248.80 crore allocated for Capital expenditure, includes modernisation related expenditure. The Capital Allocation of Ministry of Defence under BE 2019-20 is 31.97 per cent of the total Central Government Capital Expenditure, which is Rs 3,38,569 crore.

In a significant development, import of Defence Equipment not manufactured in India has been exempted from Basic Customs Duty. This will have an impact of augmenting the Defence Budget by approximately Rs 25,000 crore on account of savings in expenditure on Customs Duty over the next five years.

 

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.