‘Investment in armed forces crucial for GDP’
In a rare occurrence, Indian army chief General M.M. Naravane on Friday pulled up Sensex graph to put forth the point that investment in armed forces is crucial for the GDP growth of the country.
Gen Naravane said that when there is no secure environment, GDP growth is impacted. This, he said can been seen by that fact that during Pulwama and Balakot incident the Sensex went down from a high of 36,469 to 35,498 points. “But post Balakot strike when it was demonstrated that we can very much take care of ourselves. That there is a stable environment, the Sensex not only recovered but went beyond its previous high,” said the army chief. “It’s only when we have safe and secure environment, growth will take place. Many times people say that expenditure on defence does not contribute to the GDP. I beg to differ. It very much contributes to GDP,” he added.
He said that Border Roads Organisation (BRO) puts back 80 per cent of its
◗ GEN NARAVANE said there will be no impact of the budget constraints on the operational efficiency of the Indian army. He said that movement of units from one peace station to another will be curtailed to bring down costs and some large formation training exercise may not happen.
allocation into the local economy. Gen Naravane said a study done on Bathinda Cantt showed that every year it contributed around Rs 1,000 crore in the local economy.
There is 20 per cent constraint imposed on first quarter of the defence budget due to fall in government tax revenues as ongoing lockdown has hit economic activity.
Gen Naravane said there will be no impact of the budget constraints on the operational efficiency of the Indian army. He said that movement of units from one peace station to another will be curtailed to bring down costs and some large formation training exercise may not happen.