Bengaluru, February 15
India on Wednesday announced an increase in the allocation for weapon procurement from domestic sources.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, addressing an audience at Aero India-2023, said 75 per cent of the defence capital procurement budget had been earmarked for domestic industry in the 2023-24 fiscal. This is up from 68 per cent in the present fiscal.
Capital outlay pertaining to modernisation and infrastructure development for the next fiscal is Rs 1.63 lakh crore. This allocation has two components — procurement of weapons and infrastructure.
“Weapons worth Rs 1 lakh crore will be procured from domestic sources. This will make up about 75 per cent of the procurement next fiscal. As a result, import dependency will be minimised,” the minister said, adding the Indian industry needed to come forward with more enthusiasm.