According to Reuters, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a budget of 550 billion dollars, of which 73 billion dollars are earmarked for defense.
According to the Voice of America report, 5.94 lakh crore rupees have been kept for the defense budget during the current financial year.
In the budget proposals, the allocation for border road development has been increased from Rs 4,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore. Similarly, the allocation for Army construction works has been increased from Rs 5596 crore to Rs 6789 crore. The budget for aircraft and aero engines for the Army has been increased from Rs 2070 crore to Rs 5500 crore.
The budget for heavy and medium vehicles for the armed forces has been increased from Rs 1817 crore to Rs 3000 crore.
The budget for the Navy has also been increased. According to the budget proposals, the last year’s Rs 6,000 crore for naval equipment has been increased to Rs 9,500 crore. Similarly, the budget for the Dockyard Project and Navy Land Scheme has also been increased.
The government has allocated Rs 4266 crore for the Agnipath scheme launched for four years. For this purpose, Rs 3800 crore has been given to the Army, Rs 300 crore to the Navy and Rs 166 crore to the Air Force.
With over 1.3 million troops, India’s defense budget is 2 percent of GDP, but this is still far less than China’s, which spends $230 billion a year on its defense.
