It is undeniable that the services will require vast sums of money in the upcoming budget on February 1 to operationally sustain them in the faceoff.
Editorial Staff
India's 2021-22 Defence Budget Needs Honest Financial Reckoning, Not Empty Rhetoric
India’s military faces a massive financial predicament in the fiscal year 2021-22, as it remains locked in a costly faceoff with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. To meet this forbidding challenge, that shows no sign of abating, all three services are believed to have already executed emergency purchases of over $2 billion since June 2020 to plug enduring equipment and ammunition shortages, adversely upsetting budgetary calculations. It is undeniable that the services will require vast sums of money in the upcoming budget on February 1 to operationally sustain them in the faceoff with China that could conceivably continue for years. The military’s financial demands come at a time when India is deep in recession, following the serious financial downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though some green shoots are visible in the economy, these are unlikely to shore up government revenues in the coming fiscal in any substantial m…
