Defence gets 7.9 pc hike

Ajay Banerjee

Earmarking a sum of Rs 2,46,727 crore for the Defence Ministry during the next fiscal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley indicated that the nation was inching towards making new aircraft. New Delhi is on the verge of sealing a deal to buy 126 fighter jets from French Dassault aviation and 108 of these are to be made in India.

The allocation is a jump of Rs 16,727 crore over the budget of Rs 2,29,000 crore for the ongoing fiscal — ending March 31 — and constitutes a hike of 7.9 per cent. In January this year, the budget for the ongoing fiscal had been cut in revised estimates by some Rs 13,000 crore, of which Rs 12,622 crore was shaved off from the capital expenses. The Government has made up for the cut over the original budget and also added another Rs 16,747 crore, effectively making it a hike of nearly Rs 24,357 crore

Around 11 per cent of India's budget will be spent on defence and it constitutes 1.75 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Jaitley was categorical: "We are pursuing the Make in India policy to achieve greater self-sufficiency in the area of defence equipment, including aircraft... So far, we have been over dependent on import."

Out of the total allocation, a sum of Rs 94,588 crore has been earmarked for capital, that is the purchase of new equipment weapons and platforms. A major chunk, Rs 24,697 crore, has been earmarked for 'aircraft and aero engines'. Another major chunk, Rs 16,049 crore, will go to the naval fleet and Rs 500 crore has been set aside for the strategic railway lines, including one each to connect Leh in Jammu and Kashmir and Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, besides two more in the north-eastern state.