Union Budget 2020: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman (Photo Credit: PTI)
New Delhi:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday presented Union Budget 2020. During her speech, Sitharaman announced that the Defence budget (minus pensions) will be up from Rs 3.18 lakh crore to Rs 3.37 lakh crore. This will be a modest hike of barely 6 per cent, which includes Rs 1,13,734 crore under the capital head, just Rs 10,340 cr more than last year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that a strong foundation will be laid for this decade in the present session of Parliament and hoped there will be good debates in both the Houses on the economy. Speaking ahead of the Budget Session, Modi said that he wanted a vast and qualitative discussion on financial issues in both the houses. “This session should be focussed mainly on economic issues. I want there to be good debates on these issues in both houses.
“Our government’s identity has been of empowering Dalits, women, those who face exploitation. We want to continue these efforts. This session should be focussed mainly on economic issues. I want there to be good debates on these issues in both houses,” he said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman begins presenting Budget for 2020-21 in Lok Sabha
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reaches Parliament to present Union budget 2020.
The interim Union Budget 2019-20, presented in Parliament on 1 February 1, before the Lok Sabha elections, allocated Rs4.31 lakh crore (USD 60.9 billion) to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Of this total allocation, Rs3.01 lakh crore (USD42.7 billion) had been earmarked for the defence budget.
Keeping the defence sector on high priority, the Modi government has allotted this budget to secure the borders while maintaining combat readiness of the highest order. The government has also assured to provide additional funds, if required.
With the increase in the allocation, the current budget for the defence sector in India now stands at Rs.3.18 lakh crore and defence pensions at Rs.1.12 lakh crore, which is higher than the budgetary allocation for FY 2018-19 which was Rs.2.95 lakh crore (excluding pensions).
As part of the Union Budget 2019, the government announced an increase in defence allocation but has also proposed a significant increase in the pension of defence personnel.
In the last Budget, while presenting the budget, the minister stated that Rs.35,000 crore has already been disbursed for soldiers who are under ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) scheme in the last 3 years.
A substantial hike in the Military pay service was announced by the Finance Minister during the Budget 2019-20.
A record allocation of Rs.3 lakh crore for the defence sector was declared by Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal for the first time in the country.
