Allocation for defence in this year’s General Budget has been raised to ₹ 2,29,000 crore. Presenting the Union Budget in Lok Sabha today, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley also proposed a further sum of ₹ 1,000 crore to address the pension disparities while implementing the policy of “one rank one pension” for soldiers.

Emphasizing on the modernization of the armed forces to enable them to play their role effectively in the defence of country’s strategic interests, the Finance Minister also proposed to increase the capital outlay for defence modernization by ₹ 5,000 crore over the amount provided for in the interim Budget. This includes a sum of ₹ 1,000 crore for accelerating the development of the Railways system in the border areas. He said urgent steps would also be taken to stream line the procurement process to make it speedy and more efficient.

Defence funding increase enables pension parity and modernization investments, with procurement streamlined and border infrastructure prioritized. The Budget increases defence allocations and provides an additional allocation to remedy pension disparities under the one rank one pension policy, while raising capital outlay for defence modernization with a specific sub-allocation for accelerating railway development in border areas and announcing measures to streamline defence procurement for greater speed and efficiency.