Defence kitty swells, to block Mumbai II
New Delhi, Feb. 16: Stand-in finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has hiked defence allocations by 34 per cent citing the November terror attacks in Mumbai despite the government admitting that it has not been able to spend more than Rs 7,000 crore that was earmarked for new acquisitions in the current year.
The defence allocations in the interim budget total Rs 1,41,703 crore (compared to Rs 1,05,600 crore in the budget proposals for 2008-2009).
Strangely, the defence ministry’s expenses in the current year have overshot the budget by Rs 9,000 crore because, the government says, it implemented a higher wage structure for the armed forces and the civilians in the defence establishment.
“On the face of it, a hike of Rs 25,000 crore or thereabouts in defence allocations looks impressive,” said analyst Commodore (retired) C. Uday Bhaskar. “But the actual impact is felt when defence outlay is translated into capacity-building. Almost every year for the last eight years you have returned unspent money on the capital head. For a country where military obsolescence is staring us in the face, this reeks of a systemic ineptitude because of Bofors, HDW and the Kargil coffin scams. To therefore say that I have increased defence allocations and another Mumbai will not happen is like cheating,” he said.
In the interim budget, Mukherjee said funds would be available if more were required. He hiked capital outlay — money for new acquisitions from Rs 48,000 crore to Rs 54,824 crore even though the defence ministry under A.K. Antony could spend only Rs 41,000 crore of the amount allocated, indicating a lethargy, an unwillingness, an inability or all three — to take decisions on big-ticket deals such as tanks for the army, aircraft for the Indian Air Force and vessels for the Coast Guard and submarines for the navy.
“We are going through tough times. The Mumbai terror attacks have given an entirely new dimension to cross-border terrorism. A threshold has been crossed. Our security environment has deteriorated considerably,” Mukherjee said while announcing the increased allocations.
The defence allocation is about 15 per cent of the total interim budget. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that for new acquisitions the army has Rs 17,767.85 crore with a hike of Rs 4,852.65 crore under the head “other equipment”. The hike for the army in the capital budget is Rs 6637.59 crore over last year’s revised estimates.
The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Defence kitty swells, to block Mumbai II
New Delhi, Feb. 16: Stand-in finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has hiked defence allocations by 34 per cent citing the November terror attacks in Mumbai despite the government admitting that it has not been able to spend more than Rs 7,000 crore that was earmarked for new acquisitions in the current year.
The defence allocations in the interim budget total Rs 1,41,703 crore (compared to Rs 1,05,600 crore in the budget proposals for 2008-2009).
Strangely, the defence ministry’s expenses in the current year have overshot the budget by Rs 9,000 crore because, the government says, it implemented a higher wage structure for the armed forces and the civilians in the defence establishment.
“On the face of it, a hike of Rs 25,000 crore or thereabouts in defence allocations looks impressive,” said analyst Commodore (retired) C. Uday Bhaskar. “But the actual impact is felt when defence outlay is translated into capacity-building. Almost every year for the last eight years you have returned unspent money on the capital head. For a country where military obsolescence is staring us in the face, this reeks of a systemic ineptitude because of Bofors, HDW and the Kargil coffin scams. To therefore say that I have increased defence allocations and another Mumbai will not happen is like cheating,” he said.
In the interim budget, Mukherjee said funds would be available if more were required. He hiked capital outlay — money for new acquisitions from Rs 48,000 crore to Rs 54,824 crore even though the defence ministry under A.K. Antony could spend only Rs 41,000 crore of the amount allocated, indicating a lethargy, an unwillingness, an inability or all three — to take decisions on big-ticket deals such as tanks for the army, aircraft for the Indian Air Force and vessels for the Coast Guard and submarines for the navy.
“We are going through tough times. The Mumbai terror attacks have given an entirely new dimension to cross-border terrorism. A threshold has been crossed. Our security environment has deteriorated considerably,” Mukherjee said while announcing the increased allocations.
The defence allocation is about 15 per cent of the total interim budget. Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that for new acquisitions the army has Rs 17,767.85 crore with a hike of Rs 4,852.65 crore under the head “other equipment”. The hike for the army in the capital budget is Rs 6637.59 crore over last year’s revised estimates.
The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | Defence kitty swells, to block Mumbai II