Defence budget up 5%, capital spending flat; pension budget zooms

Despite the large number of weapons systems due for procurement, capital allocation has been raised only marginally from Rs 115,350 crore in the current year to Rs 118,534 crore in 2020-21

The defence budget for the year 2020-21 has been raised by just 5 per cent over the current year’s revised allocations, following a multi-year trend of steadily reducing the share of defence spending as a percentage of the government’s total outlay.

Nirmala Sitharaman, herself a former defence minister, has allocated to defence Rs 471,378 crore, an increase of Rs 22,558 crore over the current year’s revised estimate of Rs 448,820 crore. This includes the outlay for revenue and capital expenditure, as well as military pensions.

This amounts to 15.5 per cent of the government’s total spending of Rs 3,042,230 crore