India hikes defence budget by 13pc

With an eye on security challenges from China and Pakistan, India today announced a nearly 13 percent increase in its defence budget for the financial year 2023-24 to help the military to develop or buy advanced weapons systems, including new fighter jets, submarines and tanks.

According to the budget papers, the total size of the defence budget for 2023-24 is Rs 5.93 crore, up from Rs 5.25 lakh crore in 2022-23 financial year which ends on March 31 next, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Presenting the budget in parliament today, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the budget for capital expenditure had been increased by around Rs 10,000 crore to settle at Rs 1.62 lakh crore.

A sizable part of hiked capital expenditure is aimed at acquisition of the weapon systems, warships and equipment from domestic manufacturers. The increase in the modernisation budget is about 6.5 per cent.

The Indian Air Force plans to acquire new fighter aircraft as part of plans for inducting next-gen fighter planes in addition to investing in indigenous fighter jets. The Navy is also looking at acquiring fighter jets and the Army will be initiating the process to acquire light tanks and artillery guns for operational requirements on the Ladakh front with China.

The Defence Ministry had, in December last year, approved the procurement of arms worth over Rs 84,300 crore to boost the combat capabilities of the defence forces.