NEW DELHI: Amidst the current geopolitical scenario and the tensions along the northern border with China, the defence budget allocated on Thursday to the Ministry of Defence has been increased by Rs 28003.21 cr. With this, the Defence Budget has touched Rs 6, 21,540.85 crore in the Financial Year 2024-25. This comes out to be 13.04% of the interim Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament.The Ministry of Defence in a statement said this allocation for Financial Year (FY) 24-25 is higher by approximately one lakh crore (18.35%) than the allocation for FY 2022-23 and 4.72% more than the allocation of FY 23-24. The Defence Budget for 2023-24 was Rs 5,93,537.64 lakh crore, an increase of around Rs 68,834 crore. It was Rs 5,25,166 cr for the year 2022-23. Of the allocation this year, 27.67% goes to capital, 14.82% for revenue expenditure on sustenance and operational preparedness, 30.68% for Pay and allowances, 22.72% for defence pensions and 4.11% for civil organisations under MoD, the statement added. The Capital budget is spent on adding new weapons, systems and equipment.The allocation to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) continues to be the highest among the Ministries. Budgetary allocation for capital expenditure in Defence for FY 24-25 is Rs 1.72 lakh crore which is 20.33% higher than the actual expenditure of FY 22-23 and 9.40 % more than the Revised Allocation of FY 23-24. The allocation is in line with the Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan (LTIPP) of the three Services aimed to fill the critical capability gaps through the modernisation of the Armed Forces by materialising some big-ticket acquisitions in FY 2024-25. Capital Outlay in FY 2023-24 was increased by Rs 10, 230.39 crore, which is a rise of 6.7%, to Rs 1,62,600 (was Rs 1,52,369.61 in 22-23). The same was increased by about 9.8% for the year 2022-23.
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