Defence Capex: Rs.1,08,248.80 crore

In a significant development, import of Defence Equipment not manufactured in India has been exempted from Basic Customs Duty under the Budget 2019-20 tabled in Parliament on 5 July 2019 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

This will have an impact of augmenting the Defence Budget by approximately Rs.25,000 crore on account of savings in expenditure on Customs Duty over the next five years.

The Defence Ministry envisaged a total outlay of Rs27,86,349 crore from the 2019-20 Budget, of which Rs.3,18,931.22 crore has been earmarked for Defence (excluding Defence Pension).

For Defence Pension, an amount of Rs 1,12,079.57 crore has been provided in Budget Estimate 2019-20.

Total Defence Allocation (Rs.4,31,010.79 crore), including Defence Pension, accounts for 15.47% of the total Central Government expenditure for the Financial Year 2019-20.

The allocation of Rs.3,18,931.22 crore represents a growth of 7.93% over Budget Estimates (Rs.2,95,511.41 crore) and 6.87% over Revised Estimates (Rs.2,98,418.72 crore), respectively, for the Financial Year 2018-19.

Out of Rs.3,18,931.22 crore allocated for the Financial Year 2019-20, Rs.2,10,682.42 crore for Revenue (Net) expenditure and Rs.1,08,248.80 crore for Capital expenditure for the Defence Services and the Organisations and Departments under the Ministry.

The amount of Rs.1,08,248.80 crore allocated for Capital expenditure includes modernisation related expenditure.

The Ministry’s Capital Allocation under Budget 2019-20 is 31.97% of the total Central Government Capital Expenditure, which is Rs.3,38,569 crore.

In a significant development, import of Defence Equipment not manufactured in India has been exempted from Basic Customs Duty.

This will have an impact of augmenting the Defence Budget by approximately Rs.25,000 crore on account of savings in expenditure on Customs Duty over the next five years. fiinews.com