‘Highest priority’ to ‘sufficiently’ equip forces: Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: The government will take all precautions to ensure the country’s military preparedness is not compromised in any way because of lack of funds or other factors, and attached the “highest priority” to “sufficiently” equip the armed forces to meet any operational requirement, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday.
Replying to questions on “under-utilisation of defence budgets” in Rajya Sabha, Singh said the NDA government had ensured the defence ministry fully utilised allocated budgets over the last three years. “We have utilised more than 100% of what was allocated. There are no procedural delays in purchase of weapons, and substantial financial powers have been delegated to the three Service headquarters,” he added.
The minister said the defence budget in “absolute terms” had increased over the years, with one-third (32.19%) of the Union government’s total capital expenditure now being spent on defence, which was the highest among all central ministries.
Singh said in the last four financial years, from 2015-16 to 2018-19, 210 contracts were inked for capital procurement of defence equipment for the armed forces, which ranged from helicopters, artillery guns and warships to ballistic helmets, radars and bullet-proof jackets.
Of these 210 contracts, 135 were signed with Indian vendors like defence PSUs, Ordnance Factory Board and private companies as part of the ‘Make in India’ policy.
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References

1. ^{^} defence (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} Rajnath Singh (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} Rajya Sabha (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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