Budget 2017: Govt raises Defence budget by about 5.8 per cent to Rs 2,74,000 crore, 86000 crore for capital acquisition

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who presented the Union Budget on Wednesday said that there has been a hike in the defence budget by 5.8 per cent for FY 2017-18.

The defence budget for FY 2017-18 stands at Rs 2,74,000 crore excluding pensions. Out of this amount, about Rs 86,000 crore is for capital acquisition. Devoid of the pension outlay, the total defence budget for 2016-17 was Rs 2,49,000 crore. 

Jaitley also said that a central defence travel system has been developed through which soldiers can book travel tickets online. A comprehensive web based defence pension distribution system for defence pensioners.

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Experts had said at least a 10 per cent increase was needed to deal with inflation and the vast sums required to modernize India’s aging military hardware from Soviet era aircraft to outdated guns and body armor. 

The government’s ability to spend has come under pressure repeatedly. The defence ministry has surrendered about Rs 35,000 crore from its capital allocation for the previous four years. 

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