Operational allocation of the Armed Forces gets unprecedented jump
Rs 1.38 lakh crore allocated for Defence Pensions
Capital outlay pertaining to modernisation & infrastructure development increased to Rs 1.62 lakh crore; 57% rise since 2019-20
Capital Budget of BRO enhanced by 43% to Rs 5,000 crore; At Rs 23,264 crore, allocation to DRDO increased by 9%
iDEX gets Rs 116 crore, an enhancement of 93% over 2022-23, to further foster innovation
EEE status provided to Agniveer Fund
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh terms Union Budget 2023-24 as growth-oriented; Says, it will help in achieving the Government’s goal of making India a $5 trillion economy within few years
To prepare for any situation, the Armed Forces must be battle ready. To that purpose, the expenditure for non-salary revenue has increased dramatically, rising by 44% from Rs 62,431 crore in the BE 2022–23 to Rs 90,000 crore in the BE 2023–24. With this investment, it is hoped to close significant gaps in combat readiness and provide the Forces with equipment such as ammunition, supplies for maintaining weapons and equipment, military reserves, etc. By maintaining an increase in capital expenditure, this budget has also maintained the focus on modernization and infrastructure development of the defence services.
The overall expenditure outlined in the Union Budget for the Fiscal Year 2023–24 is Rs. 45,03,097 crore. Of this, Rs 5,93,537.64 crore, or 13.18% of the overall budget, has been allotted to the Ministry of Defense. This includes Rs. 1,38,205 crore for military retirement benefits. The overall defence budget is up Rs 68,371.49 crore (13%) from the budget for 2022–2023.
Highlights:
Increase in the Non-Salary/operational allocations
With the budgetary outlay for this segment increasing from Rs 62,431 crore in BE 2022-23 to Rs 90,000 crore in BE 2023-24, the Non-Salary Revenue/operational allocation receives a boost of Rs 27,570 crore in line with the government’s commitment and focus to maintaining a high level of operational preparedness of the defence services to face current and future challenges.
This will support the upkeep of weapon systems, platforms, including ships and aircraft, and their logistics; improve fleet serviceability; purchase or hire specialised skills to fill capability gaps wherever necessary; advance the stocking of military reserves; and strengthen forward defences, among other things.
Prior to this growth in the Non-Salary Revenue sector, the government had increased the operational allotments for the current fiscal year by Rs 26,000 crore, or 42% of the existing allocation, during the Mid-Term Review. The whole carryover liabilities were liquidated during the current year thanks to this exceptional rise in the Revised Estimates 2022–23, assuring that there would be no dent in the operational outlay of the Services for the next year.
The enhanced allocations in the Budget will also cater to Training Aids & Simulators for Agniveers and ensure that they achieve the set standards of training for induction in the Defence Forces.
Thrust on Modernisation & Infrastructure Development Sustained in Union Budget 2023:
The Capital Investment Outlay has been sharply increased for the third year in a row in the Union Budget 2023–24 by 33% to Rs. 10 lakh crore, or 3.3% of GDP. This will almost triple the budget for 2019–20.
As a result, the capital allocations for the development of the Defense Services’ infrastructure and modernization have grown to Rs. 1,62,600 crore, an increase of Rs. 10,230 crore (6.7%) from FY 2022–23. Additionally, the capital budget has increased by Rs 59,200 crore (57%) from 2019–20. This rise reflects the government’s dedication to a sustainable increase in the field of defence services modernization & infrastructure development.
MoD is committed towards infrastructure strengthening in the Border Areas, particularly the Northern Borders
As a result, the capital budget of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was increased by 43% to Rs 5,000 crore in FY 2023–24 from Rs 3,500 crore in FY 2022–23.
Additionally, since FY 2021–22, the budget for this component has increased by a factor of two.
This will improve border connection and improve border infrastructure, resulting in the creation of strategically significant assets including the Sela Tunnel, Nechipu Tunnel, and Sela-Chhabrela Tunnel.
Recognising the crucial role of Research, Innovation and Technological development towards capacity building of the Armed Forces as well as fueling India’s Mission of Aatmanirbharta
To promote research and development in the defence sector, the DRDO has received a 9% increase in funding, totaling Rs 23,264 crore in BE 2023–24.
iDEX and DTIS have received funding of Rs 116 crore and Rs 45 crore, respectively, reflecting an increase of 93% for iDEX and 95% for DTIS over 2022–2023, in order to further promote innovation, support technology development, and boost the defence industrial ecosystem in the nation.
By doing this, the Ministry of Defence will achieve its goal of utilising ideas from talented young people all around the nation.
Unleashing innovation and research by start-ups and academics is the goal of the National Data Governance Policy, which was unveiled in the Union Budget 2023–24.
This would make it possible to obtain anonymized data, which will help the Defense Start-ups and iDEX schemes even more.
The new Credit Guarantee plan for MSMEs was also announced in the Union Budget 2023–24 and will go into effect on April 1, 2023, with an injection of Rs. 9,000 Crore into the corpus. This will provide for an additional Rs 2 lakh crore of collateral-free guaranteed loans. Additionally, there has been a 1% decrease in the cost of the credit. This programme will give MSMEs connected to the defence sector an additional boost.
Budgetary provision to comprehensively raise the overall ease of living for our esteemed veterans
In FY 2023–2024, the Defense Pension Budget experiences a significant increase of 15.5%. Compared to BE 2022–23, this cost is Rs. 1,19,696 crore in absolute terms, or Rs. 1,38,205 crore in BE 2023–24. Additionally, RE 2022-23 allocations at Rs 1,53,415 crore show a notable increase of 28%, totaling Rs 33, 718 crores.This includes an amount of Rs 28,138 Crore to meet the requirement on account of revision of Armed Forces Pensioners/ Family Pensioners under One Rank One Pension (OROP)
With a BE allocation of Rs. 5431.56 Crore in FY 2023-24 compared to Rs. 3582.51 Crore in FY 2022-23, the Defence Budget 2023–24 shows a notable increase of 52% in the allotment for Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), reflecting the government’s commitment to improving healthcare outreach to our veterans.
With this improvement, our veterans and their dependents would receive better “Service Delivery” and “Cashless Health Services” throughout India.
Welfare of Agniveers
The Agniveer Fund now enjoys Exempt-Exempt-Exempt (EEE) status under the Union Budget 2023–24.
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh expressed his gratitude to Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting a growth-oriented Union Budget for FY 2023–24 through a series of tweets, noting that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh expressed his gratitude to Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman for presenting a growth-oriented Union Budget for FY 2023–24 through a series of tweets, noting that under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
Shri Rajnath Singh asserted that the Budget demonstrates the government’s commitment towards supporting growth and welfare oriented policies that will benefit all sections of society including small businesses owners, farmers, and professionals alike.
The Raksha Mantri exuded confidence that the Union Budget 2023-24 will help in achieving the Government’s goal of making India a $5 trillion economy and among the world’s ‘Top Three’ economies within a few years.
