'Govt has not walked its talk on money for the military in Budget 2020'

ETV Bharat's senior journalist Sanjib Baruah has analysed the defence budget 2020-21. He said that the government, balancing the need for more and better weapons in the backdrop of a grim economic scenario would have been a tightrope act.

New Delhi: One thing is abundantly clear. As far as Budget 2020-21 is concerned, the government has not walked its talk. There is no money for the military.

One needs to go just a year back. Over the morning skies of Pakistan on February 27, 2019, an Indian Air Force (IAF) Mig 21 fighter plane streaked across leaving a trail of smoke before crashing even as its pilot bailed out. It had just been bettered by a Pakistan Air Force F-16 fighter aircraft. It was an uneven match where technology prevailed. For there is no comparison between a US-made F-16 and a Russian-origin old Mig 21.

A cacophony of rhetoric followed about our ageing and inadequate fleet of fighter aircraft. But on Saturday, a year later, there was no obvious recollection of the high talk.

On the contrary, the IAF got even less money for capital acquisition or the money required for buying a new flying machine and weapon platforms than what it got last year. At Rs 43,280 crore this year, the IAF got Rs 1,588 crore less than the revised estimates of last year.

It doesn’t stop at that. The IAF has only about 31 squadrons at its disposal. The minimum number of fighter aircraft squadrons needed for a two-pronged war scenario (read total deployment at least along the western, northern and eastern borders) is about 43.

Coming back to Budget 2020-21, from a budgetary provision of Rs 3.18 lakh crore in 2019-20 (the 2018-19 number was Rs 2.95 lakh crore), the finance minister on Saturday set aside just Rs 3.37 lakh crore for the defence forces (or a 5.97 per cent hike) that is fighting on several fronts including modernization and procurement not to speak of a belligerent Pakistan and a Chinese military that is modernizing its forces at breakneck speed.

Funds in Budget 2020 for capital acquisition or buying of new weapon systems and platforms is a shade more than Rs 10,000 crore—an abysmally small figure when the army needs Future Infantry Combat Vehicles (FICVs) and more howitzers, IAF needs fighters, Navy needs many more submarines, minesweeping vessels and helicopters, there is an acute need for more radar and communication systems, etc.

Of course, a wish-list is never-ending, but heartwarming signals could have been sent. That intent, seemingly, is missing.

This lack of funds could cause a kick-starting problem for newly created bodies that would look at cutting-edge strategic technology like Defence Space Agency (DSA) and Defence Cyber Agency (DCA) not to speak of military research and development.

So as of now, stealth weapons, drones, swarms, hypersonic weapons, electromagnetic weapons, rail guns, etc look out of bounds although these are the weapons of the future and a country aiming to be the world's 3rd largest economy (or a $ 5 trillion economy) by 2025 cannot afford to ignore.

But to be fair to the government, balancing the need for more and better weapons in the backdrop of a grim economic scenario would have been a tightrope act.

Therefore as of now, the ministry of defence has little choice but to abide by the three evergreen mantras of monetary prudence—improve efficiency and utilization of how it spends the scarce money, promoting self-reliance, and encouraging private sector participation in the defence sector.