(MENAFN- AsiaNet News) New Delhi: The overall defence budget for 2024-25 pegged at a rise of 4.72 per cent at Rs 6.21 lakh crore against Rs 5.93 lakh in 2023-24. It is just Rs 400 crore more against the fund given in the interim Budget which was presented just ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
For the procurement of weapons, equipment and hardware, the government has provisioned Rs 1.72 lakh crore for this financial year against Rs 1.71 lakh crore previous year. Out of Rs 1.70 lakh crore, the government has earmarked Rs 1.05 lakh crore for domestic capital procurements.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh thanked Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who presented her seventh consecutive budget in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and said that his ministry got the highest allocation to the tune of Rs 6,21,940.85 crore, which is 12.9 per cent of total Budget.
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“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,” Rajnath Singh said.
Of the Rs 1.72 lakh crore, Rs 40,277 crore has been allocated for procurement of aircraft and aero engines, Rs 23,800 crore for naval fleet, Rs 6,830 for naval dockyards and projects, and Rs 4637 crore for procurement of heavy and medium vehicles.
The government has allocated Rs 1,574 crore for special projects.
Giving an impetus to technological prowess, Sitharaman announced Rs 100 crore for the Indian Army and Rs 1,697 crore for the Indian Air Force for prototype development projects.
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The revenue expenditure of the defence ministry saw a significant rise of around Rs 17,000 crore at Rs 4.39 lakh crore against Rs 4.22 lakh crore. The capital expenditure which is meant for procurement of weapon systems saw a rise of over 10,000 crore at Rs 1.82 lakh crore against Rs 1.71 lakh crore in 2023-24.
For the Agnipath scheme, Rs 5,887 crore has been provisioned.
“I am pleased that Border Roads have been given a 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. 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,” he added.
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