Budgeting India’s Military Modernisation with Myopia

Restructuring and modernising the armed forces will require political courage, military astuteness, a non parochial approach and a singularity of purpose. With India’s defence budget now pegged at less than 2.0 per cent of the GDP, the funds available for modernisation of the armed forces are grossly inadequate.

India’s Military Modernisation Programme

Defence Minister A K Antony unveiled a Defence Production Policy that, in an implicit admission of public sector inadequacy, seeks “to build up a robust indigenous defence industrial base by proactively encouraging larger involvement of the Indian private sector”. The industry has reacted differently to the production policy. Khutub Hai of Mahindra Defence Systems had [...]