Defence Budget 2019: About Rs 35,000 crore has already been disbursed under OROP, Piyush Goyal said.
Highlights
- Will provide additional funds if needed for border security: Piyush Goyal
- The Defence Budget earmarked in the last fiscal was Rs 2.95 lakh crore
- UPA government had earmarked only Rs 500 crore for defence, Mr Goyal said
Union minister Piyush Goyal, who presented the last budget of the BJP-led government before the national election, announced that for the first time the centre has increased the Defence Budget to over Rs 3 lakh crore. He said the government will provide additional funds for defence if needed for border security.
The Defence Budget earmarked in the last fiscal was Rs 2,95,511 crore.
"Our soldiers protect the country on the borders and they are our pride. We have allocated more than Rs 3 lakh crore in this budget for securing our borders, which is the highest so far. If necessary, additional funds would be provided," he said.
Mr Goyal, who was filling in for Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who is in the US on a medical trip, said the government has already disbursed Rs 35,000 crore under the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme.
He also targeted the previous UPA government, saying it had sanctioned only Rs 500 crore in its 2014-15 interim budget.
"While the Congress governments only put the OROP promise in the budget thrice, we have implemented it," he said.
The union minister added the government has announced a substantial hike in the Military Service Pay (MSP) of all service personnel and special allowances were given to naval and air force personnel deployed in high-risk roles.