New Delhi: Defence Budget for this fiscal saw a marginal increase of six per cent to Rs 3.37 lakh crore in comparison to last year's Rs 3.18 lakh crore.
This year’s budget allocation for defence sector, without taking into account defence pensions, includes Rs 1.13 lakh crore under the capital head for modernization, which is only Rs 10,340 crore more than the allocation in last year’s budget estimates.
Lack of adequate funds could hit the military’s modernization programmes, experts said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget speech in Parliament on Saturday made no mention of defence except that national security was a top priority.
If defence pensions in the budget are taken into account, the defence outlay for 2020-2021 stands at Rs 4.71 lakh crore compared to Rs 4.3 lakh crore in last year’s budget estimates and Rs 4.48 lakh crore in last year’s revised estimates.
