The allocation for capital expenditure in the defence budget saw an increase of Rs. 21,326 crore, or 18.75%, from the Budget estimates of 2020-21.
This is the highest increase in capital outlay for defence in the past 15 years.
Budget data also show that the armed forces got an additional allocation of Rs. 20,776 crore under capital expenditure in 2020-21 for emergency procurements in the face of massive mobilisation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The total allocation for defence in the Union Budget at Rs. 4.78 lakh crore, including for defence pensions, saw a marginal increase of 48% from the Rs. 4.71 lakh crore last year.
However, data show that defence pensions have gone down significantly from the Budget estimates of 2020-21.
The 15th Finance Commission observed it its report that the expenditure on defence services as a proportion of GDP declined from 2% in 2011-12 to 1.5% in 2018-19 and to 4% in 2020-21.
