Experts said a certain amount of budgetary allocation should be maintained to fill operational voids and meet ... Read More

(This story originally appeared in on Feb 3, 2018)

NEW DELHI: India’s defence budget is inadequate to meet major modernisation and infrastructure development programmes against the backdrop of military threats from China and Pakistan , experts and officials privy to the matter said. They maintained that additional allocation is needed to enhance military preparedness.

Experts said a certain amount of budgetary allocation should be maintained to fill operational voids and meet future requirements, and this should not happen only during war.

A person familiar with the matter said: “The general mindset in the government is that only when there is a war the defence budget should be increased. Any other time, it is not given much priority.” Defence budget for 2018-19 is just Rs 2.95 lakh crore, a mere 7.81% hike over last year’s allocation of Rs 2.74 lakh crore.

“With just a 7.81% increase in the defence budget, the modernisation of the services cannot be supported. It also means that the policy and acquisition decisions which have been taken will not be feasible on the ground,” said sources, adding that modernisation also includes strategic projects and border roads.

“With inflation and pay increasing every year, committed liabilities such as life-cycle costs and buying more ammunition cannot be supported with it,” said an official.

Sources explained that due to limited defence allocation, priority in infrastructure development will be given to about 19 of the 73 India, China Border Roads (ICBRs) over the General Staff (GS) roads. However, the GS roads are equally important because they allow quick local and inter-sector movement.

There is also the issue of contractual liability which leads to less capital outlay. For example, if a contract for providing a product or service to an armed force has been given to a company and the money for it has to be paid over a period of time, every financial year a percentage of the money which has to be paid is cut from the capital expenditure.

Experts added that what ultimately needs to be done is to ensure that India’s military can face a high-tech Chinese Army , especially when China’s 2017 defence budget stands at $152 billion (Rs 9.75 lakh crore).

In view of threats and internal security requirements, the government has implemented some major policy and acquisition decisions since last year onwards. An important step was the Army reprioritising its next five-year plan (2018-2023) to meet its operational requirements along India’s frontier with China.

Last July, the Centre had notified that Army’s Vice-Chief Lt Gen Sarath Chand would have full financial powers to procure critical ammunition and spares. Even the procurement of advanced assault rifles was fast-tracked. The process for replacing T-72 tanks was also started. Also, more of the 145 ultra-light howitzer guns will be arriving this year.

Even IAF is looking at procuring combat jets for its dwindling fighter squadron. The Navy also has the P-75 and P-75I submarine programmes, which are an important requirement due to the growing Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean Region.

