Q. No. 979 Trends in defence budget

Question: Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to satate :-

(a) the trends in the Revenue and Capital Budget of defence forces during the last five years;

(b) what has been the actual expenditure against budget allocation during the above period;

(c) whether Government propose to impose a cut in capital budget of defence; and

(d) if so, the reasons therefor?

Answer: Minister of Defence (Shri A.K. Antony)

(a) & (b): Trends in the Revenue and Capital Budget of defence forces during the last five years are as follows:-

(b) Actual expenditure against budget allocation during the above period;

(c) & (d): It has been proposed to reduce the allocation in the current financial year by `10,000.00 crore under Capital, to `69,578.63 crore, in the Revised Estimates 2012-13. This has been done in view of the need to curtail expenditure to contain the fiscal deficit and after taking into account the progress of approval of schemes and utilisation of available budget. However, budgetary allocation of `86,740.71 crore is proposed in respect of Defence Capital budget under BE 2013-14. This represents an increase of 9% over Budget Estimates of 2012-2013.