Marginal increase in Defence outlay

This year, Singh has allocated Rs 65,300 crore to Defence, slightly up from last year’s Rs 65,000 crore. However, last year’s revised estimates stood at Rs 56,000 crore.

Announcing the Budget, Singh said: ‘‘The Government is fully committed to modernising the armed forces and equipping them with the best available. This is non-negotiable. Therefore, during the next year, any additional requirement, that may emerge on account of modernisation needs of the three armed services or on account of married accommodation project, will be fully met. There will be no shortage of funds for Defence.’’

While Singh may live up to his assurance, it is for the Defence Ministry to expedite the defence acquisition process by speeding up the decision-making process.

The armed forces had to ‘‘surrender’’ nearly Rs 9,000 crore as the Defence Ministry apparently sat on the files on big ticket deals. As a result, the Air Force is still waiting for the advanced jet trainer, the Navy for Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier and the Army for its self-propelled guns.

The budgetary proposals show that the Army gets Rs 34,574.29 crore as against Rs 34,509.32 crore last fiscal year. This translates into a negligible increase in the outlay even though the military needs at least a 15 per cent hike to maintain its existing equipment. The Navy gets Rs 11,744.68 crore, up from last year’s Rs 8,435.49 crore, signalling the much-needed modernisation of the naval fleet.

The Air Force also garnered more funds with Rs 15,410.45 crore, up from Rs 12,403.52 last year, indicating that a decision on an AJT deal or more Mirages could be on the cards. Defence research and development gets a hike with Rs 3,647.6 crore, up from last year’s Rs 3,193.25 crore, and unlike in the past, is listed as a separate head in the Budget.

Security expert K. Subrahmanyam blames an indecisive political leadership for the delay in military acquisition process. ‘‘It is a political problem. While politicians are likely to call it a bureaucratic problem, it is their indecision which has resulted in the delay of some key acquisitions,’’ he says.

The allocation for the year works out to nearly 2.4 per cent of the GDP, much lower than Pakistan’s and China’s defence spending (at 4.6 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively).