Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman pays her respect to the Indian Armed Forces in a style

With Indian and Chinese forces locked in a military standoff for more than nine months now, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Monday announced an 18.72 per cent hike in military ‘capital’ Budget meant to buy new weapons, planes, warships, guns, UAVs and material. ‘Capital Budget’, meant for new equipment and infrastructure, is pegged at Rs 1,35,060 crore (approx $18 billion) for the Ministry of Defence (MoD). This is up by 18.72 per cent from the allocation of Rs 1,13,734 under ‘capital’ head for the ongoing fiscal ending March 31, 2021. In rupee terms the hike is an additional Rs 21,326 crore. Also, the allocation is 24.36 per cent of the entire country’s spend on ‘capital’, which means almost one-fourth of new development will be through the MoD. Overall, the military Budget, minus pensions, is pegged at Rs 3,62,345 crore, up by 7.4 per cent from last year. If pensions are added, the military Budget will touch Rs 4,78, 195 crore (approx $63.75 billion). To explain, this would be 13.72 per cent of the entire country’s Budget. In the ongoing fiscal, the Budget was Rs 4,71,372 crore and works out to be 15.4 per cent of the country’s entire Budget. China’s military expenditure reached $261 billion in 2019 (details of 2020 spending are still not out) as per a report of Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) titled ‘Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2019’. India’s military Budget for pensions is down to Rs 1,15,850 crore, which is some Rs 18,000 crore, fewer than the existing Budget. “Last year, the Budget for pensions was more as approximately Rs 18,000 crore was to be paid on account of pension arrears,” a senior official said. Military Budget, including pensions, is 13.72% of entire BudgetBudget for ‘capital’ is some 24.36% of country’s spendJump in ‘capital’ is 18.75%The Budget, minus pensions, shows a hike of 7.4%