India Hikes Defense Spending By 12 Percent

[joe81]

India Hikes Defense Spending By 12 Percent

NEW DELHI - India, which has embarked on a major program to upgrade its military, announced a nearly 12 percent jump in defense spending to $36 billion in its annual budget on Feb. 28.

Spending on the military was boosted to 1.65 trillion rupees ($36 billion) for the financial year to March 2012 from 1.47 trillion rupees the previous year.

"Any further requirements for the country's defense would be met," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told parliament in unveiling the spending plans.

Last year's budget hiked defense expenditure by just 4 percent.

The latest rise comes after nuclear rivals India and Pakistan earlier this month agreed to resume peace talks suspended more than two years ago when Islamist gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai.

India, which has fought three wars with Pakistan since independence in 1947 and had a brief war with China in 1962 over an unresolved border dispute, has emerged as the largest weapons buyer among emerging countries.

International consultancy firm KPMG estimates New Delhi will hand out military contracts worth $112 billion by 2016.

This year's increase in defense spending comes as the government is looking to finalize big-ticket deals to procure 126 combat aircraft, 197 light helicopters and the 145 ultra-light Howitzer artillery guns for the army.

 

[Atul]

thats a good initiative, hope our politicians have to will to spend the same judiciously & procure some of the best available Weapons platforms.

Some part of the same must also be added on to R&D, with active participation from Private sector.:thumb:

 

[nrj]

This year's increase in defense spending comes as the government is looking to finalize big-ticket deals to procure 126 combat aircraft, 197 light helicopters and the 145 ultra-light Howitzer artillery guns for the army.

For the love of lord please make it happen this year.......

 

[pmaitra]

Indian defence budget hiked to $34 bn

Indian defence budget hiked to $34 bn

Tuesday, March 01, 2011; The News, Pakistan

NEW DELHI: Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday said the defence budget of the country for 2011-12 had been hiked to about Rs154.4 billion ($34 billion).

Presenting the budget for the next financial year the minister said this will mark an over 4% increase from the outgoing allocations of Rs147.3 billion. Mukherjee also told the Lok Sabha while presenting the annual budget that the capital expenditure for defence in 2011-12 would be scaled up to Rs691 billion up from the Rs60 billion in 2010-11. He said any further requirement for defence of the country would be met.

Spending on the military was boosted to 1.65 trillion rupees (36 billion dollars) for the financial year to March 2012 from 1.47 trillion rupees the previous year. The latest rise comes after nuclear rivals India and Pakistan earlier this month agreed to resume peace talks suspended over two years ago when gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai.

International consultancy firm KPMG estimates New Delhi will hand out military contracts worth $112 billion by 2016. This year's increase in defence spending comes as the government is looking to finalise big-ticket deals to procure 126 combat aircraft, 197 light helicopters and 145 ultra-light howitzer artillery guns for the army.

The budget belied expectations of cuts in fuel taxes denying any relief to state-run oil firms but boosting chances of a planned ministerial meeting taking up the issue of raising prices soon.

India freed petrol pricing last June. Diesel, cooking gas and kerosene rates are set by the federal government that partly compensates state oil firms for their losses when global crude oil prices increase.

With India's inflation at around 8% — among the highest of the major Asian economies — expectations were that the budget would tinker with customs and excise duties.

But a $5.2 billion subsidy bill on fuels for 2011/12, less than the $8.5 billion in the current year but which could be revised upward, was the highlight of Mukherjee's budget for the fuel sector.

Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=4306&Cat=13&dt=3/1/2011

 

[pmaitra]

Pakistan Criticises Hike In Indian Defence Budget

Pakistan Criticises Hike In Indian Defence Budget

by Staff Writers
Islamabad, Pakistan (AFP) Mar 01, 2006
Spacewar

"Pakistan will take all measures to put in place a credible defence to meet any challenges to the security of the country" Pakistani foreign office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

Pakistan on Wednesday criticised the latest hike in India's defence budget as out of sync with the peace process launched by the nuclear-armed South Asian rivals. The foreign office also warned that Pakistan could not remain indifferent to the increased expenditure and would take measures to meet any challenges to national security.
India on Tuesday hiked military spending by 7.2 percent to 890 billion rupees (19.8 billion dollars) in its budget for the year to March 2007.

The increase is "out of sync with the developments taking place in the bilateral and regional framework," Pakistani foreign office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

"This is especially so, when Pakistan and India are engaged in the ongoing composite dialogue process to peacefully resolve all outstanding issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and ensure peace and stability in the region," she said in a statement.

"Pakistan will take all measures to put in place a credible defence to meet any challenges to the security of the country."

India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed Himalayan state of Kashmir which both claim in full and hold in parts.

The neighbours launched a peace process in January 2004 to resolve all outstanding issues including Kashmir disputed through dialogue.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Source: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Pakistan_Criticises_Hike_In_Indian_Defence_Budget.html

 

[pmaitra]

Indian government defends major hike in budget

Indian government defends major hike in budget

By Fenella McGerty
17 February 2009
Janes

Indian defence spending will rise by more than a third to INR1,417 billion (USD32.7 billion) in Fiscal Year 2009, according to the interim budget presented by acting finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 February.

This figure represents a 34.2 per cent increase from the proposed 2008 budget of INR1,057 billion and a 23.6 per cent increase from the revised 2008 defence spending estimate of INR1,146 billion.

The allocation is nearly 15 per cent of the government's total interim budget of INR9,532.31 billion for the fiscal year beginning on 1 April.

The interim budget is to finance expenditure ahead of the general election scheduled for May 2009.

Of the INR1,417 billion defence budget, planned expenditure has risen 18 per cent for 2009/10 from INR736 billion to INR868.79 billion. This includes INR548.24 billion for capital expenditure as against INR410 billion in the revised estimates for 2008-09.

144 of 379 words
© 2009 Jane's Information Group
End of non-subscriber extract

Source: http://www.janes.com/news/defence/business/jdw/jdw090217_1_n.shtml

 

[pmaitra]

With an eye on China, India steps up defence spending

With an eye on China, India steps up defence spending

By Sanjeev Miglani
NEW DELHI | Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:19am EST
Reuters

Feb 28 (Reuters) - India increased annual defence spending by about 11.6 percent on Monday, aiming to overhaul the military to counter the rapidly growing capabilities of giant neighbour China.

The hefty increase suggests the government plans to move ahead with some of a slew of planned defence acquisitions, analysts said, including a $10.5 billion fighter jet contract, one of the world's largest on offer.

India, among a host of countries wary of China's economic and military heft, is also eyeing surveillance helicopters, transport aircraft and submarines to beef up defences in the air as well as in the Indian Ocean.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, presenting the 2011-2012 budget to parliament, set the military budget at just over 1.64 trillion rupees ($36.28 billion), up from last year's 1.47 trillion rupees. Last year the increase was about 4 percent.

"China is the real long-term challenge on the strategic horizon and India's security planning is geared toward it," said retired brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal who heads the government-funded Centre for Land Warfare Studies.

China, which considers the U.S. military as its main rival, set its defence spending at $78 billion last year. It is expected to announce a defence budget for 2011 later this week ahead of an annual session of parliament.

The core U.S. defense budget -- not including war funding -- was $530 billion in 2010.

More than 40 percent of the Indian defence budget for 2011 will be spent on capital expenditure, Mukherjee said, while the rest will go toward maintaining one of the world's largest standing armed forces.

"Needless to say, any further requirement for the country's defence would be met," he said seeking to assuage concerns that the rise in spending was short of the military's expectations.

Old rival and neighbour Pakistan, which like India, also has nuclear weapons, is also a factor in India's defence planning.

DEALS

Indian officials expect to conclude negotiations to buy 126 combat aircraft by the end of the current fiscal year, the country's largest-ever defence order.

Saab's JAS-39 Gripen is competing with Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet, Dassault's Rafale, Lockheed's F-16 and Russia's MiG-35 to win the fighter contract which Indian officials said can eventually go up to 200 aircraft.

Kanwal said the defence allocation was enough to proceed with the fighter aircraft deal, although it may not leave much room for other arms imports.

"In the first year there is a signing amount you have to pay which shouldn't be a problem," he said.

India, which traditionally has had an edge over China in terms of combat air superiority with more modern planes, has in recent years seen the gap closing as Beijing modernised its air force.

China's plans for a stealth aircraft, designed to rival the U.S. F-22, have in particular unnerved Indian security planners prompting a race to overhaul the air force with its Soviet-era planes.

India, which long focused its military planning on Pakistan, is also scrambling to modernise its navy to counter China's influence in the Indian Ocean through its "string of pearls strategy" of developing a network of friendly ports from Gwadar in Pakistan to Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka.

Another military expert said given the scale of the challenge facing India, the increase in defence expenditure was modest.

"It's not a dramatic increase if you take inflation into account. Military inflation will be even higher," said Ajai Sahni, director of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management.

"It doesn't really demonstrate a will to completely overhaul the armed forces to meet the challenges." ($1=45.2 rupees) (Editing by Alistair Scrutton and Robert Birsel) REUTERS as

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/28/india-budget-military-idUSSGE71R02Y20110228?pageNumber=1

 

[pmaitra]

India's Defense Spending: Facts Beyond Figures

India's Defense Spending: Facts Beyond Figures

by Madhavi

The 34% increase in India's Defense Budget this year has caught the attention of neighbors, China and Pakistan in particular. According to the budget figures India plans to spend $29.52 billion in the 2009-10 financial year. These figures create an impression that India is all set to further flex her military muscle in the region and beyond. Reality however does not confirm to this perception. It's not that India does not wish to have a military clout in South Asia; the fact is that the country's security and defense policies are not suited to achieve the goal of regional military dominance. A recent article in Hindustan Times appropriately sums up the tasks facing India's defense policy: defense needs reforms, not just hike in funds.

A large part of the proposed defense budget hike will be dedicated to fulfilling the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. Pensions, which have gone up as a result of the Pay Commission's award, account for about Rs 5,000 crore. Salaries have also gone up from Rs 54,560 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 81,388 crore in 2009-10. Thus a large segment of the money allocated in the budget is meant for activities which have no direct bearing on enhancing the country's military clout per se.

Another less noticed dimension of the problem is the lack of enthusiasm among youth to join the defense forces. This is what a CNN-IBN news piece reported on January 2009:
As the military challenge to India mounts, the number of men who were ready to stand up and defend India is diminishing. While on one hand, men in uniform are queuing up to leave, on the other, enlistment at India's military academies is at an all-time low. The number of officers from the Army's cutting-edge combat leadership wanting to quit has increased four-fold in the last five years. In 2008, the number jumped up to a record 1,200, most of them high-performers. Not enough money and having to stay away from the family are one of the biggest demoralisers. At courses in 2008, there were no takers for two-thirds of the slots at the Indian Military Academy. Only 86 of the 250 vacancies at the 124th course were subscribed. At the National Defence Academy, cadet intake hit an all-time low of 190 against a training capacity of 300, and after only 11 recruits showed up for a course meant to train 107 engineers at the Officers Training Academy, the course was scrapped.

A Report released by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in the last quarter of 2008 expressed clear doubts regarding India's readiness for war operations. The audit report on Armed Forces came up with stunning disclosures. One, that more than half of India's submarines are not battle-ready. Two, that its radars are too old and too few to provide any credible defense against an air attack. The report reveals that at any time, only 48 per cent of Indian Naval ageing submarines are available for waging war, should India be attacked. The rest are in repair and refit. Age is such an issue that 50 per cent of the submarines are in the last stages of their prescribed life. Sixty-three per cent of the fleet would be ready for phase-out by 2012. Not only are the submarines too old, the numbers are too few - way below approved force levels. India's fleet of an estimated 16 submarines is just 67 per cent of the force levels approved 23 years ago. The bad news doesn't end here. The CAG has now confirmed an earlier report by CNN-IBN that the Navy's main strike weapon, the submarine-launched Klub land-attack cruise missile, is malfunctioning. Too old, too few - it's much the same story with radars which are at the heart of India's air defenses, which are based on an outdated, 37-year-old plan. Shortage of key radars was to the tune of 76 per cent, making India particularly vulnerable to air attacks. The audit report suggests that the IAF just doesn't have the equipment to ensure a credible air defense for India.

Following the CAG Report Defense Minister A.K. Antony candidly accepted the government's failure in providing necessary weapon systems and platforms to the armed forces in time in the country's history.

The budget hike ignores two important facts. India's defense spending according to the CIA Fact Book was 2.5% of the GDP in 2006; for Pakistan it was 3% and for Sri Lanka it was 2.6% of the GDP. The country comparison to the world was: India 66, Pakistan 52 and Sri Lanka 63. Country comparison figures ranks the countries according to defense spending as a percent of GDP. India's defense spending would have been much higher if the country was planning to militarily dominate the region.

More importantly, allocation of funds does not necessarily translate into better and advanced equipment for the defense forces in the Indian context. The MoD has been unable to spend over Rs 7,007 crore of the total capital outlay of Rs 48,007 crore last year. It surrendered Rs 6,750 crore in the two preceding years. In 2008-09, the capital outlay was Rs 48,007 crore. But as plans to procure the light utility helicopters and 155mm artillery guns did not materialize, the services gave the money back to the government. Is there any other country in the world where the defense forces are unable to spend the money allocated to it? The bureaucratic hassles delay the procurement of equipment and by the time the bureaucracy approves a request, the particular equipment outlives its use. If you add to the above facts the dismal performance of the DRDO, countless scams in defense deals and under-performance of procured equipment, India's defense policy appears to be in shambles. These issues raise doubts regarding India's defense capabilities, making any offensive domination implausible. India has masked her low military profile by referring to the need for addressing the 'small neighbor' psyche of the other South Asian states. Unfortunately, India's military posture has failed to both reassure neighbors and fully serve the county's defense needs.

Source: http://thetrajectory.com/blogs/index.php/2009/07/indias-defense-spending-facts-beyond-figures/

Disclaimer: Not much is known about the author or her sources. This however does not prove that this article is false. It could be best called a collection of unsupported claims, unless someone verifies them.

 

[pmaitra]

India Boosts Defense Spending by 11%

India Boosts Defense Spending by 11%

 

[sesha_maruthi27]

The dumb minds of the politicians which says that if the DEFENCE FORCES are given more powers then the political power and dominance over the DEFENCE FORCES will be lost and the DEFENCE FORCES may overtake the politicalians. This myth which is inside our politicians brains must go and they should think about the security of the NATION. Then only INDIAN ARMED FORCES can try to achieve some military dominance in SOUTH ASIA.

 

[natarajan]

so defence spending is less than the loss made by 2g scam lol

 

[shuvo@y2k10]

hope this trend of 11.6% or more growth is carried forward from this year onwards into the future

 

[joe81]

How much is the defence spending by China? Any idea?

 

[p2prada]

China has a defence spending of $70Billion officially and over $100Billion unofficially.

 

[badguy2000]

How much is the defence spending by China? Any idea?

well, the yearly congress of CHina this year is still be on . WHen it is finished, the defence expenditure of CHina would be open.

CHina's defence expenditure last year(2010) was 532.1 billion RMB( about 780 billion USD).

 

[Adux]

well, the yearly congress of CHina this year is still be on . WHen it is finished, the defence expenditure of CHina would be open.

CHina's defence expenditure last year(2010) was 532.1 billion RMB( about 780 billion USD).

Bullshit, The China's official defense expenditure is 77.95 billion, the real expenditure should be anywhere close 130 billion US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

India spends 37 billion, but it hides more than it reveals!

 

[Yusuf]

CHina's defence expenditure last year(2010) was 532.1 billion RMB( about 780 billion USD).

780 billion? If we take the latest figures out from china of a 6 trillion economy that would make it 13% of GDP. I don't think the CCP is that stupid.

 

[joe81]

CHina's defence expenditure last year(2010) was 532.1 billion RMB( about 780 billion USD).

780 billion USD is too high a figure. 70 Billion $ is the figure.. I guess

 

[badguy2000]

Bullshit, The China's official defense expenditure is 77.95 billion, the real expenditure should be anywhere close 130 billion US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_expenditures

India spends 37 billion, but it hides more than it reveals!

well, guys, it is a wrong caculation. ....the right one is not 780 billion USD,but 78 billion USD.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

well, guys, it is a wrong caculation. ....the right one is not 780 billion USD,but 78 billion USD.

BG,

are you trying to convince us a country with economy worth 6t usd with annualized real gdp numbers in double digit, which is to spend 1.5t usd as budgeted amount in fiscal 2011 will just spend just 78b usd on defence, a country which has expansionist ambitions and an aggressive foreign policy to intimidate their neighbors with their military might, and you think this world is that naive that they will believe your and ccp's bluff?

Adux,

130b usd would be too less, i would believe nothing less than 200b usd, possibly much more and even 200b usd is just 13% of their budget.