In this year's Budget, India allotted 5.94 lakh crore for defence expenditure, along with a capital outlay of 1.62 lakh crore for military modernization. This allocation is 13% more than that of last year's Budget forecasts and nearly 2% higher than that of the updated estimates for 2022–23, according to documents.
The revenue expenditure in the Budget is 2.7 lakh crore, and the pension outlay is 1.38 lakh crore. The defence budget for this year accounts for 2% of the country's estimated GDP for 2023-24. It accounts for 13% of the overall government budget.
The increased investment comes at a time when India is embroiled in a border dispute with China and pursuing a slew of modernization programmes, with a strong emphasis on deploying domestically manufactured weapons and systems.
The capital investment for this year is around 6% more than in last year's Budget forecasts and about 8% higher than in the revised estimates for 2022-23. The capital allocation will fund the acquisition of fighter aircraft, helicopters, warships, missiles, and a variety of ground systems like as tanks and artillery weapons.