The defence budget for the financial year 2009-2010, even though in terms of percentage increase appears large, yet it is not actually so. There has generally been a mismatch between the funds asked by the MOD and those allotted by the MOF. The absence of indication of likely availability of funds impacts adversely the defence planning process. Of late, there has been improvement in the ratio of revenue to capital expenditure, but for a healthy ratio there is a need to increase the defence budget as a percentage of the GDP.
India’s Defence Budget (2010-2011): Wake up call for Defence Managers
Given that allocations for revenue expenditure are likely to become lesser in coming years, defence managers need to initiate immediate measures to control the rising revenue expenditure.