New Delhi, July 5: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her first union budget marginally increased the financial outlay for the defence sector. The defence budget almost remained the same as it was in the interim budget 2019. The government allocated Rs 4,31,010.79 for the defence sector. Out of total budget allocation for defence, Rs 3,18,931.22 crore are set aside for meeting defence requirements which is 7.93 percent over Budget Estimates and 6.87 percent over Revised Estimates respectively for the Financial Year 2018-19.  Aadhaar Card for NRIs: Nirmala Sitharaman in Her Budget 2019 Speech Proposes to Ease 180 Days Waiting Period.

Out of Rs 3,18,931.22 crore, Rs 2,10,682.42 are for meeting revenue expenditure and remaining 1,08,248.80 crore are for capital expenditure of the forces.  For Defence Pension, an amount of Rs 1,12,079.57 crore has been provided in budget estimate 2019-20. The total defence allocation including defence pensions, accounts for 15.47 percent of the total Central Government expenditure for the financial year 2019-20.

Meanwhile, there will be no customs duty on the import of defence equipment. While presenting the budget in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said, “Defence has an immediate requirement of modernisation and upgradation. This is a national priority. For this purpose, import of defence equipment that are not being manufactured in India are being exempted from the basic customs duty.”

In the interim budget presented by Piyush Goyal in February this year, the Narendra Modi government had allocated Rs 3 Lakh Crore to defence forces which was 1.7 percent (approx) more as compared to the allocation in 2018. Meanwhile, a total of Rs 4.31 lakh crore were allocated to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) which included an amount for or One Rank One Pension (OROP). In the interim budget, the defence capital budget was Rs 1.03 trillion for 2019-20. Meanwhile, in 2018, the defence budget was Rs 2.95 lakh crore.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 05, 2019 02:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).