INR 5.94 lakh crore allocated to Defence Ministry in Union Budget

New Delhi, Feb. 1 (PTI): The defence budget was increased to INR 5.94 lakh crore for 2023-24 from last year’s allocation of INR 5.25 lakh crore.

In the Union Budget presented in Parliament by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, a total of INR 1.62 lakh crore has been set aside for capital expenditure that includes purchasing new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware.

[bsa_pro_ad_space id=6]

For 2022-23, the budgetary allocation for capital outlay was INR 1.52 lakh crore but the revised estimate showed the expenditure at Rs 1.50 lakh crore.

According to 2023-24 budget documents, an allocation of INR 2,70,120 crore has been made for revenue expenditure that includes expenses on payment of salaries and maintenance of establishments.

The budgetary allocation of revenue expenditure in 2022-23 was INR 2,39,000 crore.

In the budget for 2023-24, the capital outlay for the Ministry of Defence (Civil) has been pegged at INR 8,774 crore while an amount of INR 13,837 crore has been set aside under capital outlay.

A separate amount of INR 1,38,205 crore has been allocated for defence pensions.

The total revenue expenditure including the pension outlay has been estimated at INR 4,22,162 crore.

According to the budget papers, the total size of the defence budget is INR 5,93,537.64 crore.