At a time when India is locked in a prolonged standoff with China in eastern Ladakh, straining its reseources, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocated Rs 3.62 lakh crore, excluding pensions, for defence expenditure -- up by 7.4 per cent from last year. The total outlay for the Defence Ministry in Budget 2021 is pegged at Rs 4,78,195.62 crore.
The outlay for weapons and modernisation has been increased from Rs 1,13,734 lakh crore last year to Rs 1,35,060 crore for 2021-22 -- a rise of 18 per cent. This will aid in pushing through several critical purchases, including assault rifles, missiles and land systems. Last year, defence forces were provided Rs 20,776 crore additional funds under the capital budget for modernisation of Army.
I specially thank PM& FM for increasing the defence budget to 4.78 lakh cr for FY21-22 which includes capital expenditure worth Rs 1.35 lakh crore. It is nearly19 percent increase in Defence capital expenditure. This is highest ever increase in capital outlay for defence in 15yrs
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 1, 2021
"I specially thank PM and FM for increasing the defence budget to 4.78 lakh cr for FY21-22 which includes capital expenditure worth Rs 1.35 lakh crore. It is nearly 19 per cent increase in Defence capital expenditure. This is highest ever increase in capital outlay for defence in 15 years," Defence Minister Rajnath Singh tweeted.
There was an expectation for a significant increase in the allocation to the forces, given the added strain of deployments in the Ladakh, where about 50,000 troops have been stationed through the harsh winter.
India is way behind China in military spending. From 2014-2019, China has spent $261.1 billion on defence budget, while India has spent only $71.1 billion. In that time period, Pakistan has spent $10.3 billion.