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Defence budget up as never before

In the steepest hike in defence allocation ever, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha Tuesday raised the budget for that ministry by a whopping Rs 130 billion to Rs 585.87 billion.

The budget for 2000-2001 sees expenditure on defence doubling from the Rs 295.05 billion of five years ago. Defence experts had for long been demanding such a hike, keeping in view the urgent need for state-of-the-art military hardware for the three services, and electronic surveillance systems.

While in 1996-97, the budget estimate was Rs 295.05 billion, subsequent years saw it rise to Rs 352.77 billion, Rs 412 billion and Rs 456.94 billion in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 respectively.

The Kargil Review Committee this month also said that a number of experts had suggested the need to enhance defence outlay as budgetary constraints had affected the process of modernisation and created certain operational voids.

It said giving infantrymen superior light weight weapons, equipment and clothing suited to the threats they face in the icy heights was a priority.

The finance minister said the largest ever increase in the budget, up 28.2 per cent from last year, showed his government's resolve not to compromise the safety and security of the country.

Defence spending in 1998-99 was close to Rs 520 billion including supplementary demands. The outlay then was 2.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product which has gone up to around 2.5 per cent this year.

The defence needs have further heightened after the Kargil conflict last summer which highlighted the 'gross inadequacies' in the country's surveillance capability, particularly through satellite imagery.

The Subrahmanyam Committee has recommended the immediate acquisition of high altitude unmanned aerial vehicles with night vision and thermal imaging capabilities.

It also said there was urgent need for communication interception equipment and satellite imagery capability of world standards.

Maintaining troops along the Line of Control in Kargil sector has resulted in an additional financial burden of nearly Rs 100 million a day. After the Kargil episode, the three service chiefs had drawn up separate lists for weapons and force multipliers.

The Indian Air Force has plans to acquire 60 advance jet trainers and Mirage-2000 fighters while the army needs T-90 tanks, weapon locating radars, self-propelled guns and multi-barrel rocket launchers. The army will also be acquiring UAVs and electronic warfare systems.

Experts have been urging for a substantial increase in defence spending, which they say is very low compared to the allocations made by countries like Pakistan and China. Pakistan's defence spending, at 2.8 billion dollars last year, was 4.7 per cent of their GDP.

UNI

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