Budget allocation 35% lower than required: House panel on defence

INSUFFICIENT BUDGET WILL HIT ACQUISITION OF WEAPONRY TO MATCH MODERNISATION OF CHINESE, PAKISTAN MILITARIES, SAYS PANEL

NEWDELHI: A parliamentary panel on Friday flagged concerns about the India’s military modernisation taking a hit because of inadequate funds made available for buying new weapons and systems in this year’s budget. The panel pointed out that the capital budget for 2020-21 was 35% less than the requirement projected by the armed forces.

In a report tabled in the Lok Sabha, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence pointed out that insufficient budgetary allocation would affect acquisition of latest weaponry, aircraft, ships and tanks that are required to match the modern is at ion of the Chinese and Pakistani militaries.

“...to develop and acquire the most modern state-of-the-art fighting platforms, which can match northern and western neighbours [China and Pakistan], the requisite allocation to the capital head is very es sen priori ti sing tial,” the panel said in its report on capital outlay, procurement policy and defence planning. Last month, the government set aside ~3.37 lakh crore for military spending in its budget for 2020-21, an increase of barely 6% over last year’s budget estimates of ~3.18 lakh crore.

This year’s budget, which excludes defence pensions, includes ~1.13 lakh crore under the capital head for modernisation, which is only ~10,340 crore more than the allocation in last year’s budget estimates. If the defence spending allocated for 2020-21 is calculated against last year’s revised estimates of ~3.31 lakh crore, the increase is not even 2%. The armed forces are their purchases to make the best use of available resources, two senior officials said on the condition of anonymity. The panel highlighted how the gap between the requirement and the money made available has increased over the years. It said the gap for the army had spiralled from ~4,596 crore in 2015-16 to ~17,911.22 crore this year (from 14% to 36%).

“In the case of navy, the difference of ~1,264.89 crore in 2014-15 has increased to ~18,580 crore in 2020-21 [5% to 41%] and for airforce, the gap of ~12,505.21 crore in 2015-16 has increased to ~22,925.38 crore in 2020-21 [27% to 35%],” the report said.

“With the security challenges that India faces, the capability accretion of three services should not be stymied due lack of funds. Unfortunately, the allocation in this year’s budget is woefully inadequate and must be given a second look,” said Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd), additional director general, Centre for Air Power Studies.