India proposes 13 percent more defense spending than expected

PHOTO AFP NEW DELHI India proposed on Wednesday 5.94 trillion rupees $72.6 billion in defense spending for the 2023 -- 24 financial year, 13 percent more than the previous period's estimates, aiming to acquire more fighter jets and warships.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated 1.63 trillion rupees for defense capital outlays - an expenditure that would include new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware, as she unveiled nearly $550 billion of total federal spending in the annual budget for 2023 -- 24 starting in April.

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She said that 2.77 trillion rupees would be allocated to military salaries and benefits in 2023 -- 24, 1.38 trillion on pensions for retired soldiers, and further amounts for miscellaneous items.

Sitharaman also revised the defense budget for the current financial year ending March to 5.85 trillion rupees from earlier estimates of 5.25 trillion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has increased spending in the past few years to modernize the military, which employs 1.38 million people. The Indian defense budget is estimated to be about 2 percent of GDP.

Laxman Behera, a defense expert at the government-funded Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, said the defense budget was reasonable but not sufficient considering the requirements for military modernization.

He said that the government tried to allocate reasonable funds for defense forces while balancing other priorities during the pre-election budget.

India plans to spend around 242 billion rupees $3 billion for naval fleet construction, and 571.4 billion rupees $7 billion for air force procurements, including more aircraft, according to the latest budget document.

The defense budget allocations fell short of military expectations, but they are likely to grow as the economy recovers from two years of Pandemic curbs, according to Behera.