Chinks in the armour
In the budget speech 2009-10, Union finance minister Pranab Mukharjee devoted less than two minutes to national security and the defence budget out of a total of two hours.
In the budget speech 2009-10, Union finance minister Pranab Mukharjee devoted less than two minutes to national security and the defence budget out of a total of two hours. The prime minister after acknowledging the contribution made by the defence forces gave the usual assurance by intoning “that where defence of the country is concerned money would not be a consideration”.
For the modernisation of the police force, an additional Rs430 crore is being proposed over the provisions in the interim budget while for strengthening border management, an additional Rs2,284 crore is being provided for construction of fences, roads, flood-lights on the international borders. One Rank One Pension for Ex-Servicemen (OROP) will be implemented from July 1, 2009 resulting in enhanced pension for more than 12 lakh jawans and JCOs.
In its interim budget for 2009-10, the government has allocated Rs1,41,703 crore for the defence services The defence budget for 2009-10 has increased by 34.19 per cent over the previous year’s estimate, leading to an allocation increase by 23.65 per cent. The sharp rise in revenue expenditure has taken its share in the defence budget to 61.31 per cent from 54.54 per cent. The faster growth of revenue expenditure is primarily due to the hefty increase in pay and allowances flowing from the implementation of Sixth Central Pay Commission.
The Indian defence budget must be the most opaque document in the world. India’s long-term rivals, Pakistan and China, allocate around 3.5 per cent and 4.3 per cent of GDP to defence respectively while India allotes less than 2.5 per cent. US military aid of nearly $10 billion is being misused by Pakistan to modernise its army. With India’s defence budget being less than half of China’s officially claimed figure, the military gap between the two is growing every year.
The UPA government provided Rs60,000 crore to write off farm debts and thousands of crores for various subsidies but pegged the defence budget below 2.5 percent of the GDP for most of its tenure. Despite small annual increases since 2001, expenditure has decreased in real terms and as a percentage of GDP. There is a glaring shortfall of more than 25 per cent between what is required by the services and what they are allocated. Expenditure for modernisation is the main casualty of bureaucratic procedures.
The Indian Army has been described as a first-rate army with second-rate equipment. Because of mismanagement by successive governments most of the equipment held is very old or obsolete. Battle tanks and equipment for mountain strike divisions to carry the fight into Chinese territory are imperative as are Multi-role Combat Aircraft for the Indian Air Force.
Building of naval ships takes a very long time and so requirement has to be forecast in a scientific manner. After protracted negotiations, Delhi agreed in 2004 to buy the 45,000-ton Admiral Gorshkov/ INS Vikramaditya. However, after diplomatic rows a delivery delay of at least four years until 2012 is expected. The underutilisation of resources allocated under the capital head in the defence budget has been growing at a rather alarming rate. In absolute numbers, the underutilisation has increased by over four-and-a-half times between 2004-05 and 2008-09. In percentage terms, it has increased from 4 per cent to 15 per cent in the same period. The MoD, in recent years has miserably failed to improve acquisition procedure and the recurring underutilisation of resources highlights the weakness in the system.
Let the defence minister explain the pathetic record on defence spending under his watch. What, to his mind, is the optimum capital to revenue expenditure ratio for national defence? How can it be achieved, if capital spending is either being re-appropriated into revenue expenditure or being returned unutilised? Should defence spending be related to the national GDP or should there be a quadrennial defence review conducted by the government to determine long-term procurement plans?
In the meantime, corruption, allegations of impropriety and tortuous contractual procedural arrangements continue to hamper much-needed modernisation of the Indian Armed Forces. It has to be ensured that the budget is increased to 3 per cent of GDP, so that adequate finances are available for modernisation. The DRDO is called ‘secret weapon of Pakistan’ because of inordinate delays in all its projects. Its performance needs to be monitored strictly.
The real rub of India’s defence inefficiency however lies not with the finance ministry but with the country’s archaic procedures for acquisition. Moreover the large number of court cases has made officials wary of signing contracts. Thus even with a clean defence minister the process of arms acquisitions is caught in a permanent bind of suspicion affecting the modernisation of armed forces.
For the modernisation of the police force, an additional Rs430 crore is being proposed over the provisions in the interim budget while for strengthening border management, an additional Rs2,284 crore is being provided for construction of fences, roads, flood-lights on the international borders. One Rank One Pension for Ex-Servicemen (OROP) will be implemented from July 1, 2009 resulting in enhanced pension for more than 12 lakh jawans and JCOs.
In its interim budget for 2009-10, the government has allocated Rs1,41,703 crore for the defence services The defence budget for 2009-10 has increased by 34.19 per cent over the previous year’s estimate, leading to an allocation increase by 23.65 per cent. The sharp rise in revenue expenditure has taken its share in the defence budget to 61.31 per cent from 54.54 per cent. The faster growth of revenue expenditure is primarily due to the hefty increase in pay and allowances flowing from the implementation of Sixth Central Pay Commission.
The Indian defence budget must be the most opaque document in the world. India’s long-term rivals, Pakistan and China, allocate around 3.5 per cent and 4.3 per cent of GDP to defence respectively while India allotes less than 2.5 per cent. US military aid of nearly $10 billion is being misused by Pakistan to modernise its army. With India’s defence budget being less than half of China’s officially claimed figure, the military gap between the two is growing every year.
The UPA government provided Rs60,000 crore to write off farm debts and thousands of crores for various subsidies but pegged the defence budget below 2.5 percent of the GDP for most of its tenure. Despite small annual increases since 2001, expenditure has decreased in real terms and as a percentage of GDP. There is a glaring shortfall of more than 25 per cent between what is required by the services and what they are allocated. Expenditure for modernisation is the main casualty of bureaucratic procedures.
The Indian Army has been described as a first-rate army with second-rate equipment. Because of mismanagement by successive governments most of the equipment held is very old or obsolete. Battle tanks and equipment for mountain strike divisions to carry the fight into Chinese territory are imperative as are Multi-role Combat Aircraft for the Indian Air Force.
Building of naval ships takes a very long time and so requirement has to be forecast in a scientific manner. After protracted negotiations, Delhi agreed in 2004 to buy the 45,000-ton Admiral Gorshkov/ INS Vikramaditya. However, after diplomatic rows a delivery delay of at least four years until 2012 is expected. The underutilisation of resources allocated under the capital head in the defence budget has been growing at a rather alarming rate. In absolute numbers, the underutilisation has increased by over four-and-a-half times between 2004-05 and 2008-09. In percentage terms, it has increased from 4 per cent to 15 per cent in the same period. The MoD, in recent years has miserably failed to improve acquisition procedure and the recurring underutilisation of resources highlights the weakness in the system.
Let the defence minister explain the pathetic record on defence spending under his watch. What, to his mind, is the optimum capital to revenue expenditure ratio for national defence? How can it be achieved, if capital spending is either being re-appropriated into revenue expenditure or being returned unutilised? Should defence spending be related to the national GDP or should there be a quadrennial defence review conducted by the government to determine long-term procurement plans?
In the meantime, corruption, allegations of impropriety and tortuous contractual procedural arrangements continue to hamper much-needed modernisation of the Indian Armed Forces. It has to be ensured that the budget is increased to 3 per cent of GDP, so that adequate finances are available for modernisation. The DRDO is called ‘secret weapon of Pakistan’ because of inordinate delays in all its projects. Its performance needs to be monitored strictly.
The real rub of India’s defence inefficiency however lies not with the finance ministry but with the country’s archaic procedures for acquisition. Moreover the large number of court cases has made officials wary of signing contracts. Thus even with a clean defence minister the process of arms acquisitions is caught in a permanent bind of suspicion affecting the modernisation of armed forces.