NEW DELHI: A modest 6% hike in allocation shows that defence spending remains a low priority area for the government.The hike is unlikely to meet the impact of inflation , depreciation of the rupee and the imposition of customs duty on military imports from last year.Pegged at 1.62% of the GDP this year, the allocation is unlikely to cater for major weapons purchases. This is despite the recommendation of a key defence ministry panel that the spending should be 2.5% of the GDP.“The fact that all defence imports now attract customs duty and the rupee has depreciated against the dollar, it will be interesting to see how the large pending procurements go ahead,” said Ankur Gupta, vice-president, aerospace & defence at EY India.