Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Government has allocated Rs 6,21,940 crore for the defence sector, up from last year’s outlay of Rs 5.94 lakh crore. The capital outlay has been pegged at Rs 1,72,000 crore.
The total allocation to the defence sector is 12.9 per cent of the total budget of the Government of India for the 2024-25. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the allocation of Rs 1,05,518 crore for domestic capital procurement will provide further impetus to atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in the defence sector.
“I am pleased that Border Roads have been given 30 per cent 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,” he said.
To boost the startup ecosystem in defence industries, Rs 518 crore has been allocated to the iDEX scheme to fund technological solutions given by startups, MSMEs and innovators, Singh said. In the Interim Budget presented on February 1, the Government’s defence budget was pegged at Rs 6.21 lakh crore. Globally, the US is the biggest spender on defence sector. Its allocation last year on this sector was $858 billion. The allocation includes substantial funds for maintaining and upgrading its nuclear arsenal, cyber capabilities and space defence initiatives.
Compared to this, China’s allocation on defence last year was $230 billion, which is one-third of what is spent by the US but is still second highest in the world. In dollar terms, India’s Budget allocation for defence sector comes to roughly $75.8 billion.
