01-05-2010, 10:57 PM
One thing that was useful to avoid this issue, was a non-expirable fund for capital acquisitions. Something that Jaswant Singh constituted in the last term of the NDA government. I think it was for 25,000 crores. The idea being that this fund will not expire annually and can be used to acquire capital assets. The subsequent UPA did not like the idea and did not continue.
One realization is, if one takes this about out of the allocated budget, our defense spending would come down to about 2% of our annual budget. Imagine, 2% for country like India, seeking to be a great power, with no real allies and no one's chatra chaya, with our peaceful neighbors.
Another thing is this very same unused portion is likely then used in other areas of government expenditure, such as subsidies and other wastes, increasing our deficit, so a double whammy.
One realization is, if one takes this about out of the allocated budget, our defense spending would come down to about 2% of our annual budget. Imagine, 2% for country like India, seeking to be a great power, with no real allies and no one's chatra chaya, with our peaceful neighbors.
Another thing is this very same unused portion is likely then used in other areas of government expenditure, such as subsidies and other wastes, increasing our deficit, so a double whammy.