In the Union Budget 2023–24, the estimated allocations for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) are Rs 5,93,537.64 crores, an increase of 13 per cent over BE 2022–23 (Rs 5,25,166.15 crores).
The Srijan defence indigenisation portal is a limited but concrete example of the implications of India’s defence indigenisation efforts for key strategic partners like Israel.
The Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP 2020), which supersedes the Defence Procurement Procedure 2016 (DPP 2016), is a sincere effort by the Ministry of Defence to improve the capital procurement procedure.
Self-reliance in defence may be better realised if India’s military instrument were to be shaped by political guidance and geopolitical considerations instead of being carried away by the contemporary winds of COVID-19.
The PPP model helps in improving the productivity and exploiting the full potential of asset-based services that base workshops provide. This is particularly relevant when there exists a competitive market and a benchmark for the army between an in-house and an external solution.
Considering the impending financial crunch due to the Covid-19 pandemic and uncertainty about allocations in the coming years, it is unlikely that the MoD will be able to launch many new procurement programmes under the new DPP any time soon.
The present crisis is as much of a challenge as an opportunity to infuse financial realism in defence planning and bring about concomitant reforms in the quickest possible timeframe.
The slowdown in economic growth not only seems to have cast its shadow on the allocation of the defence budget for 2020-21 but has also compounded the challenges for the country’s first CDS.
Considering that the defence capital expenditure already accounts for a very high share in the central government’s overall capital spend, any substantial hike in the former’s share looks less likely. This is more so given the government’s priority to spend on infrastructure and other non-defence capital assets to revive the economic growth.
Budgetary Reforms: The Forgotten Agenda
Micro and macro-level budgetary reforms are required to ensure optimum utilisation of the allocated resources for executing financially viable plans.