Armed forces get hefty hike

However, Defence Minister A K Antony8217;s brief reaction revealed underlying expectations. Quoting Chidambaram8217;s claim that any additional requirement for security of the nation, over and above what has been formally sanctioned, would be provided, Antony said, 8220;With this commitment8230;we are satisfied.8221; The inference was perhaps that his ministry would have been happier with more.

Either way, in the current year, Rs 3,000 crore was left unspent, more than half of that by the Army alone on slow procurement decisions.

The new modernisation budget will allow South Block to make crucial headway in introducing parity between procurements on the one hand and salary, maintenance and administrative expenses on the other, a need propounded emphatically by former defence minister Pranab Mukherjee as a move towards the best of Western practices.

Senior officials in the Department of Defence Finance have articulated cautious praise: 8220;All modernisation requirements for this year will be taken care of by this budget,8221; an official told The Indian Express.

Hovering between 2.1-2.5 per cent of GDP over the last five years, the defence budget as a percentage of GDP continues to be dwarfed by Pakistan8217;s 4.5 per cent and China8217;s 7.2 per cent.