Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Credit: PTI Photo
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Modi government's last Budget before the country heads to Lok Sabha polls this year. Among various sectors, the Ministry of Defence bagged the highest allocation, even though the hike was modest in comparison to previous years' allocations for the sector.
The government allocated Rs 6.2 lakh crore towards Defence this year. Of that, a total of Rs 1.72 lakh crore was set aside for the military for capital expenditure that largely includes purchasing new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware.
Here's an analysis of the allocation towards over the past 5 years:
2024-25
One of the significant announcements made for the Defence sector was the launch of a new scheme for strengthening deep-tech technologies for defence purposes and to expedite 'atmanirbharta' or self-reliance in the area.
The capital outlay for the Indian Air Force was the highest at Rs 57,137.09 crore including Rs 15,721 crore for the procurement of aircraft and aero engines and Rs 36,223.13 crore for other equipment, reported news agency PTI.
In the capital outlay for defence services, Rs 40,777 crore was set aside for aircraft and aero engines, while Rs 62,343 crore was allocated for "other equipment".
An outlay of Rs 23,800 crore was made for India's naval fleet and Rs 6,830 crore for naval dockyard projects.
2023-2024
In last year's Budget, Rs 5.93 lakh crore (Rs 5,93,538 crore) was allocated to Defence, which accounted for over 13 per cent of the total expenditure of the Centre - the largest across all ministries.
2022-2023
In 2022 too, the Defence Ministry was allocated the highest among all sectors - at Rs 5.25 lakh crore (Rs 5,25,166 crore). This included an amount of Rs 1.19 lakh crore for Defence Pensions.
2021-2022
In 2020-21, the Defence Ministry was allocated Rs 4.78 lakh crore (Rs 4,78,196 crore). At 14 per cent, this was the highest allocation made by the government across various ministries.
2020-2021
The ministry that year got Rs 4.71 lakh (Rs 4,71,378 crore), which constituted 15.5 per cent of the Centre's Budget and 2.1 per cent of India’s estimated GDP for 2020-21.
(With inputs from PTI, PIB, PRS Legislative Research)