NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has increased the defence budget to Rs 2,74,000 crore excluding pensions. Out of this amount, about Rs 86,000 crore is for capital acquisition. Devoid of the pension outlay, the total defence budget for 2016-17 was Rs 2,49,000 crore.Jaitley also said that a central defence travel system has been developed through which soldiers can book travel tickets online. The defence ministry has surrendered about Rs 35,000 crore from its capital allocation for the previous four years.India ranks fourth in the list of top 10 defence spenders in the world, according to an annual Jane's Defense Budgets Report. In the light of a rise in geopolitical tensions, there is a possibility of an increase in India’s defence Budget this year from $50.7 billion in 2016.

Source: Economic Times February 01, 2017 07:00 UTC