Budget 2024: Rs 6.21 Lakh Cr Set Aside For Defence; Army, Navy, Air Force Allocations – Read All Details Here

The defence budget has been increased to Rs 6.21 lakh crore for 2024-25 in a modest hike of 4.72 per cent from last year's allocation of Rs 5.25 lakh crore. The allocation remains the same as announced in the interim budget earlier this year.

New Delhi:The government on Tuesday announced an announced an allocation of Rs 6.21 lakh crore for the defence sector for 2024-25 from last year's allocation of Rs 5.94 lakh crore. The allocation remains the same as announced in the interim budget earlier this year.

The key allocations include capital acquisition (₹72 lakh crore); budget for armed forces for revenue expenditure other than salary (₹92,088 crore); pensions (₹1.41 lakh crore); border infrastructure (₹6,500 crore); Indian Coast Guard (₹7,651.80 crore); and DRDO (₹ 23,855 crore).

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for giving the highest allocation for Defence to the tune of Rs 6,21,940.85 Crore, which is 12.9 % of total Budget of GoI for FY 2024-25.

"The capital outlay of Rs 1,72,000 Crore will further strengthen the capabilities of Armed Forces. Earmarking of Rs, 1,05,518.43 Crore for domestic capital procurement will provide further impetus to Atmanibharta. I am pleased that Border Roads have been given 30% increase in allocation over the last budget under the capital head. This allocation of Rs 6,500 Crore to BRO will further accelerate our Border Infrastructure. To boost the startup ecosystem in Defence Industries, Rs 518 crore has been allocated to iDEX scheme to fund technological solutions given by startups, MSMEs and innovators," Rajnath Singh said in a post on X.

In the Union budget presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a total of Rs 1.72 lakh crore has been set aside to the military for capital expenditure that largely includes purchasing new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware. For 2023-24, the budgetary allocation for capital outlay was Rs 1.62 lakh crore.

In the interim budget presented earlier this year, the finance minister had announced that a new scheme will be launched for strengthening deep-tech technologies for defence purposes and to expedite 'atmanirbharta' or self-reliance in the area.

The total revenue expenditure has been pegged at Rs 4,39,300 crore that included Rs 1,41,205 crore for defence pensions, Rs 2,82,772 crore for defence services and Rs 15,322 crore for the Ministry of Defence (Civil).

In the capital outlay for defence services, Rs 40,777 crore has been set aside for aircraft and aero engines while an amount of Rs 62,343 crore was allocated for "other equipment". An outlay of Rs 23,800 crore has been made for the naval fleet and Rs 6,830 crore for naval dockyard projects.

In the budget for 2023-24, the capital outlay for the Indian Air Force was the highest at Rs 57,137.09 crore that included Rs 15,721 crore for procurement of aircraft and aero engines and Rs 36,223.13 crore for other equipment.

The revenue expenditure for the Army has been pegged at Rs 1,92,680 crore for 2024-25 while the Navy and the Indian Air Force have been allocated Rs 32,778 crore and Rs 46,223 crore respectively.

A total of Rs 6,500 crore has been earmarked to strengthen border infrastructure while Rs 7,651 crore was set aside for the Indian Coast Guard. The allocation to the DRDO has been pegged at Rs 23,855 crore.

In the allocation for infrastructure projects, the projects such as development of Nyoma airfield in Ladakh at an altitude of 13,700 feet, 4.1 km strategically important Shinku La tunnel in Himachal Pradesh, Nechiphu tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh and many other projects will be funded out of this allocation, the defence ministry said.

Steady Increase in Defence Budget Over The Years

India’s defence budget allocation has gradually increased in the course of four years: ₹4.71 lakh crore (2020), ₹4.78 lakh crore (2021), ₹ 5.25 lakh crore (2022) and ₹5.94 lakh crore (2023).

The interim budget for 2024-25 on February 1 allocated ₹6, 21,540.85 crore to the defence sector for 2024-25, a meek hike from last year’s allocation, 4.7 per cent higher than the allocation for 2023-24.

What Defence Ministry Had Said After Interim Budget

Following the announcement of the interim budget earlier this year, the defence ministry said the announcement regarding Rs 1 lakh crore corpus for deep-tech for long term loan to tech-savvy youth/companies and the tax advantage to the start-ups will give further impetus to innovation in the defence sector.

On the overall outlay, the ministry said the allocation is in line with the Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP) of the three services that aims to fill the critical capability gaps by implementing some big ticket acquisitions.

The enhanced budgetary allocation will facilitate in equipping the Armed Forces with state-of-the-art niche technology lethal weapons, fighter aircraft, ships, platforms, unmanned aerial vehicles and drones, it said.

It said the planned modernisation of the existing Su-30 fighter fleet along with additional procurement of aircraft, acquisition of advanced engines for existing MiG-29 jets, acquisition of transport aircraft C-295 and missile systems will be funded out of the budget.

Apart from this, to take the initiative of 'Make in India' further, the Light Combat Aircraft MK'?I IOC/FOC configuration will be additionally funded to ensure state-of-the-art technology in domestic production.

The Indian Navy's major projects such as acquisition of deck-based fighter aircraft, submarines, next generation survey vessels will all materialise through this allocation, the ministry said.