Battling the squeeze | The Indian Express

Battling the squeeze | The Indian Express

Written by Amit Cowshish |Updated: July 11, 2019 12:00:37 am

The writer, former Financial Advisor (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence, is a Distinguished Fellow with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

Battling the squeeze

Defence plans will have to factor in the shortage of government funds

Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Karambir Singh in New Delhi. (Express Photo by Prem Nath Pandey/Representational)

While presenting the regular budget for the current fiscal on July 5, the finance minister made no mention of, and proposed no additional funds for, defence. Consequently, the total outlay for defence remains at Rs 4.31 lakh crore, as proposed earlier in the interim budget presented to Parliament in February.