The total defense budget of Rs 5,25,166 crore including Rs 1,19,696 crore for defense pension is an increase of 9.8 per cent over last year’s total outlay.
Highlight
- An independent nodal umbrella body to be set up to meet the requirement of private companies
- In Defense Budget, Sitharaman allocated Rs 1,52,369 crore for capital expenditure in 2022-23
- Indian Navy has been given an allocation of Rs 47,590 crore
Defense budget for 2022-23 was increased to Rs 5.25 lakh crore from last year’s allocation of Rs 4.78 lakh crore for procuring weapons and military platforms from domestic players as well as involving them in defense research and development. went. , Presenting the Union Budget in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said 68 per cent of the defense procurement outlay will be set aside for procurement from domestic industry and 25 per cent of the allocation for Defense Research and Development (R&D). For cooperation with the private sector.
In another announcement, he said that an independent nodal umbrella body would be set up for private players to test and meet the requirements of new technologies and obtain certification. The total defense budget of Rs 5,25,166 crore including Rs 1,19,696 crore for defense pension is an increase of 9.8 per cent over last year’s total outlay. Defense budget excluding pension component is Rs 4,05,470 crore.
In the defense budget, Sitharaman allocated Rs 1,52,369 crore for capital expenditure in 2022-23, which includes buying new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware. The capital outlay is an increase of around 10 per cent over the revised estimate of Rs 1,38,850 crore for 2021-22. At the BE level, this figure was Rs 1,35,060 crore. As per the budget documents, Rs 2,33,000 crore has been allocated for revenue expenditure which includes expenditure on payment of salaries and maintenance of establishments.
20,100 crore has been set aside for the Ministry of Defense (Civil). The Army has been given Rs 32,015 crore under the capital outlay as against Rs 36,481 crore in last year’s budget. According to budget documents, the Army could spend only Rs 25,377 crore out of the allocation. The Indian Navy has been given an allocation of Rs 47,590 crore under capital outlay, as against last year’s budgetary outlay of Rs 33,253 crore.
As per the revised estimate for 2021-22, the Navy spent Rs 46,021 crore against the allocation of Rs 33,253 crore. A total of Rs 55,586 crore has been allocated to the Indian Air Force as capital outlay against Rs 53,214 crore last year. According to budget documents, the Indian Air Force may spend Rs 51,830 crore out of the allocation.
In her budget speech, Sitharaman said the government is committed to reducing imports and promoting self-reliance in equipment for the armed forces. “Sixty-eight per cent of the capital procurement budget will be earmarked for the domestic industry in 2022-23, up from 58 per cent in 2021-22,” he said.
The Finance Minister said that Defense Research and Development will be opened to industry, startups and academia, with 25 per cent of the Defense Research and Development budget earmarked for it. “Private industry will be encouraged to design and develop military platforms and equipment in collaboration with DRDO and other organizations through the SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) model,” he said.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh termed the proposal to set aside 25 per cent of the Defense R&D budget for startups and private entities in the financial year 2022-23 as an “excellent step”. Singh also welcomed Sitharaman’s announcement that 68 per cent of the defense capital procurement budget would be allocated for procurement from domestic industry. “68 per cent of the Defense Capital Procurement Budget has been allocated for local procurement. This is in line with the ‘Vocal for Vocal’ push. Local’ push and it will definitely give a boost to domestic defense industries,” tweeted Singh.
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