Niti seeks Rs 1.7 lakh crore for military buys by 2020

New Delhi: Government think-tank Niti Aayog has sought Rs 1,72,000 crore by 2019-20 for India’s military to buy weapons and related hardware and equipment.

This is keeping in mind changing global and regional security scenarios as well as the dynamic nature of demands of India’s Army, Navy, Air Force and other constituents of the military machine.

A recent Niti Aayog document titled “The Three Year Action Agenda: An Overview” says: “The allocation towards capital expenditure in defence will increase from around Rs 95,000 crore in 2015-16 to about Rs 1,72,000 crore by 2019-20, thereby increasing its share of total expenditure from 5.3% to 6.2%. This is for greater purchases of equipment for the armed forces, keeping in mind the security considerations for the country.”

Capital expenditures are funds set aside for buying weapons, aircraft, warships and other military equipment. India, with the world’s third largest armed forces, is already in the middle of a major defence modernisation programme.

The document charts an ambitious, transformational yet achievable action agenda for the government during 2017-18 to 2019-20. The “agenda” is part of a 15-year “vision” and seven-year “strategy”.

With the changeover from the erstwhile Planning Commission to the Niti Aayog, the realm of deliberations has extended beyond the traditional areas to cover aspects of defence and internal security.

It is also felt that increasing allocations by the government on capital expenditures will lead to a “trickle- down” effect and mean more work for the small and medium enterprises which will further help in defence and fleet modernisation, besides boosting the “Make in India” programme.

Interestingly, in June, the Niti Aayog in a meeting chaired by its vice-chairman Dr Arvind Panagariya and attended by India’s top economists, underlining the need to rapidly modernise India’s military, had considered whether the government is spending on weapons “without strategic purposes” keeping in view the “changed threat perceptions” nowadays. It was one of the first moves to integrate India’s defence and internal security plans with the overall 15-year vision document being prepared to replace the five-year plans.

At the moment, the acquisition of weapon systems and equipment for the armed forces flow from the ongoing “Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan” (LTIPP), which spells out the capability desired. The Niti Aayog is grappling with the issue of trying to weave in the LTIPP into the vision document.

Sensing that the defence ministry is not too keen on the LTIPP, a parliamentary panel recently had sought a cost-benefit analysis of the LTIPP. The report of the standing committee on defence said: “The (defence) ministry feels that there is no necessity for LTIPP. Therefore the committee desire that a cost benefit analysis of LTIPP should be carried out and they be informed of the findings”.

The LTIPP was evolved by the headquarters integrated defence staff in consultation with the service headquarters as a 15-year plan to meet the needs of the country’s armed forces.

According to the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Monday, India is the world’s fifth largest spender on military. India’s military expenditure grew by 8.5 per cent in 2016 to $55.9 billion, making it the fifth largest spender. But SIPRI’s figures includes expenditure on the paramilitary forces of the Border Security Force, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Assam Rifles, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Sashastra Seema Bal but do not include spending on military nuclear activities.