Defence experts’ hopes dashed… No significant change in defence budget, only a slight increase from last time

New Delhi: There is no major change in the defense budget this time and no significant increase has been made in view of the potential threat from China and Pakistan. This time the proposed budget for defense has been increased by 4.8 percent from the last budget estimate. If we look at the revised estimates, the budget has decreased as compared to the previous financial year.

Defense Ministry got 12.9 percent of the total budget

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh thanked the Finance Minister and said that 12.9 percent of the total budget has been given to the Defence Ministry. he/she also said that Rs 1.7 lakh crore for capital expenditure will increase the strength of the army. Rs 105518 crore has been given for domestic capital purchase which will further increase self-reliance. The Defence Minister said that this time 30 percent more has been given for border roads compared to the last financial year, this will further strengthen the border infrastructure.

The deadlock with China continues for four years

There has been a deadlock with China on the LAC in Eastern Ladakh for the last four years and a large number of Indian soldiers and military equipment are deployed there. Pakistan is also constantly increasing its capability. In which China is helping it. Many terrorist incidents have taken place in Jammu and terrorists are also succeeding in every attack. In such a situation, the issue of shortage of soldiers is also being raised continuously there. In view of this, many experts were assuming that this time more will be given for defense in the budget, but it is almost the same as the interim budget presented in February last year. The total defense budget proposed is Rs 6.2 lakh crore.

A proposal of Rs 1.7 lakh crore has been made for the capital budget which is 5.8 percent more than the budget estimate of the previous financial year and 9.4 percent more than the revised budget estimate. Capital budget means that this amount will be used for the modernization of the armed forces. The capital budget last year was Rs 1.62 lakh crore. A proposal of Rs 2.8 lakh crore has been made for the revenue budget, which pays the salaries of soldiers and defense civilians and meets daily expenses. This proposed defense budget is 1.9 percent of the estimated GDP.