Modernization plans of armed forces will remain on track: govt
In the Budget Session, Defence Minister A K Antony told the Parliament that an increase of 9 per cent is proposed in the Capital Budget for 2013-14 as compared to Budget Estimates of 2012-13. "This is considered reasonable to meet the estimated requirement of the next financial year. The reduced allocation in the case of Revised Estimate 2012-13 is also considered sufficient given the progress of modernisation schemes," Antony said in a written reply.
The ministry has been under scanner as many big ticket deals like the 126 fighter jets still hang fire and the cut in defence budget of 2012-13 due to economy slowdown has slowed other defence acquisition projects.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram proposed a defence spending of $37.45 billion. Since the allocation and utilisation may change in the course of the fiscal year, the revised estimates accord a more realistic estimate of funds outflow.
India's annualised inflation rate of around 6 per cent implies that the military has actually gained little from this year's increase. The US defence expenditure amounted to $500 billion last year and China's was $110 billion. In comparison, India's defence budget of $37.45 billion is humble and barely 1.79 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
This is a record low for India in at least three decades,
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