Page 2 - Defence Budget

House panel recommends benchmark percentage of GDP for defence allocation

The government should fix a "definite benchmark" percentage of the GDP for defence budget as military expenditure by neighbouring countries and the evolving global security scenario warrant such an outlay for the country to prepare for dealing with future security challenges, a parliamentary panel said on Wednesday. It expressed "surprise" over the defence ministry not taking any action towards arriving at such a benchmark yet following its earlier recommendation. In its report, the parliamentary standing committee on defence, specifically recommended putting adequate focus on developing futuristic drones and electronic warfare systems to confront future challenges. "While appreciating the concern and the efforts made by the ministry towards preparedness of the defence forces in the country, the committee feel that the recent wars in the international arena should act as a grim reminder that the nomenclature of war has really changed and defence preparedness in terms of an electroni

Defence allocation went up from Rs 0.81 cr to Rs 1.32 trillion: Govt

There is "no meagre allocation" of resources for defence modernisation, and allocation for it under total capital outlay for defence services has gone up from Rs 80,959.08 crore in financial year 2019-20 to Rs 1,32,301.27 crore in 2023-24, the government informed the Parliament on Friday. Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said this in response to a query in Lok Sabha. The minister shared data on the "projected and allocated funds under Capital Acquisition (Modernisation Budget) in BE 2023-24". "There is no meagre allocation of resources for defence modernisation and allocation for modernisation under total Capital Outlay for defence services has gone up from Rs 80,959.08 crore in FY 2019-20 to Rs 1,32,301.27 crore in FY 2023-24," he said in his response. The allocated funds are optimally utilised towards operational activities. If required, the schemes are reprioritised to ensure that urgent and critical capabilities are acquired without any compromise to operational ...

Pakistan's defence budget increased by 16% as security challenges looms

The defence spending in 2022-23 was around 2 per cent of the country's GDP, the size of which has grown due to the rebasing of the economy

Cash-strapped Pakistan allocates Rs 1.8 trn for defence in budget 2023-24

Cash-strapped Pakistan on Friday hiked defence spending by 15.5 per cent and allocated over Rs 1.8 trillion, as the government unveiled a Rs 14.4 trillion budget for 2023-24 as it battled to fend off a looming default due to shrinking foreign reserves. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who presented the budget in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, said the government will target a growth rate of 3.5 per cent in the coming fiscal year. This budget should not be seen as an election budget' it should be seen as a responsible budget', Dar said as the political parties were getting ready for the next general elections scheduled for later this year, amidst political turmoil following the ouster Imran Khan as the prime minister in April last year. Dar presented the budget in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, which is being deemed as the last budget of the government before the general elections later this year. He said that a sum of Rs 1,804 billion has b

India world's fourth largest defence spender in 2022, says SIPRI report

India was the world's fourth largest military spender in 2022, with its defence spending increasing by around six percent as compared to 2021, a report by Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said. The military expenditure report said around 23 percent of the total spending by India was towards funding equipment and infrastructure, including that along the China border where tension continues. However, a major part of the spending was on expenditures like salaries and pensions. With military expenditure of USD 81.4 billion (one billion=100 crore), India's spending was up by six per cent from 2021 and by 47 per cent as compared 2013. "The increase in India's spending shows the effects of its border tensions with China and Pakistan," the report released on Monday said. Expenditure on capital outlays, which funds equipment upgrades for the armed forces and to the military infrastructure along its disputed border with China, amounted to 23 per cen

Guns vs Butter-III: Much of Army's war-fighting equipment remains vintage

The third of a five-part series looks at the state of the Army's weaponry and the need for greater funding to transition to a more state-of-the-art arsenal

Guns vs Butter-I: House panel welcomes larger funds allocation

The first of a five-part series analyses the military's capex demand versus allocation. The recent report of the parliamentary standing committee on defence provides the backdrop

Indian Army's capital budget should be increased: Parliament panel

The capital budget of the Indian Army should be increased to facilitate enhancing its deterrent capacity to ward off challenges from the two "hostile" neighbours, a parliamentary panel has said in an apparent reference to Pakistan and China. The committee appreciated the efforts made by the Defence Ministry towards the indigenisation of military platforms and hoped that the country would see "100 per cent contract value" going to Indian vendors in the years ahead. Referring to the challenges before the Army, the parliamentary standing committee cited proxy wars, in an apparent reference to Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. The committee was of the view that funds slated for modernisation of the armed forces should always be incremental. "The committee also desired that there should be a separate allocation for committed liabilities and new schemes, under the modernisation/capital budget," it said. The report of the panel was tabled in the Lok Sabha on ..

Higher defence spending is purely to safeguard nation's sovereignty: China

Foreign media should look at their own countries' military expansions before hyping the "China threat" theory, analysts said

China defence budget raised by 7.2%, 3 times India's, one-third of America

Actual defence spending during the year will rise to $225 billion, a single-digit budget increase for the eighth consecutive year

China defence budget up for 8th consecutive year, 7.2% increase to $225 bn

China on Sunday hiked its defence budget by 7.2 per cent, marginally higher than last year, to 1.55 trillion yuan (about USD 225 billion), marking the eighth consecutive year of increase in its military spending. China, last year, pegged its defence budget at 1.45 trillion yuan, a 7.1 per cent increase. This year the defence spending is increased to 1.55 trillion yuan. However, in view of the appreciation of the dollar against the yuan, this year's defence spending of China totalled, according to the state-run China Daily, about USD 225 billion. Last year, in dollar terms China's defence spending amounted to USD 230 billion. This is for the eighth consecutive year that China has announced a single-digit percentage point increase in its military budget. In his work report presented to the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) - the country's rubber-stamp parliament - outgoing Premier Li Keqiang spoke highly of the armed forces' achievements at the borders without

China expands defence budget by 7.2%, marking just 0.1% increase than 2022

China on Sunday announced a 7.2 per cent increase in its defence budget for the coming year, just .1 per cent higher than in 2022. That marks the eighth consecutive year of single-digit percentage increases in what is now the world's second-largest military budget. The 2023 figure was given as 1.55 trillion yuan (USD 224 billion). Along with the world's biggest standing army, China has the world's largest navy and recently launched its third aircraft carrier. According to the US, it also has the largest aviation force in the Indo-Pacific, with more than half of its fighter planes consisting of fourth or fifth generation models. China also boasts a massive stockpile of missiles, along with stealth aircraft, bombers capable of delivering nuclear weapons, advanced surface ships and nuclear powered submarines.

China to increase military budget by 'appropriate and reasonable' level

Under Xi Jinping's leadership, China has continued to significantly expand and overhaul its military

NATO chief Stoltenberg eyes bigger defence budgets, hard spending target

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday urged the 30 member countries to commit to spending at least 2 per cent of their gross domestic product on defense by a set date, as Russia's war on Ukraine and other threats eat into military spending. NATO allies agreed in 2014, after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, to halt the spending cuts they had made after the Cold War and move toward spending 2 per cent of GDP on their defence budgets by 2024. That pledge expires next year, and NATO is working on a new target. What is obvious is that if it was right to commit to spend 2 per cent in 2014, it is even more right now because we live in a more dangerous world, Stoltenberg told reporters, after chairing a meeting of NATO defence ministers, where a first high-level discussion on the issue was held. There is a full-fledged war going on in in Ukraine, in Europe, and then we see the persistent threat of terrorism, and we see also the challenges that China is forcing to o

Decluttering the defence budget

There is a need to streamline allocations and make the budgetary document less complicated to assess its true impact

Defence Budget and its discontents

Allocations made for capital expenditure must increase if India is to keep pace with China's rising military might

India steadily building its naval strength, but the usual challenges remain

Inadequate budgets, delays in placing orders and then in construction, poorly coordinated delivery schedules, and the China factor present manifold challenges for the navy, notes T N Ninan

Japan's PM seeks to increase defence budget to 2% of GDP in fiscal 2027

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has required cabinet Ministers to increase the nation's defence budget to around 2 per cent of GDP in the fiscal year of 2027

Amid tensions with China, Taiwan defence budget to go up by 13.9%

Amid rising tensions with China, Taiwan's defence budget is set to go up by 13.9 per cent next year, according to a proposal announced by the Cabinet on Thursday

Value of defence offset commitment in 15 years stands at $6.83 bn: Govt

The total value of defence offset commitment that needed to be implemented over the last 15 years has been estimated at USD 6.83 billion, the government said in Lok Sabha on Friday.