Budget 2023: Defence spending hiked by nearly 13 per cent to ₹5.94 lakh crore

The defence budget for 2023/24 will be hiked by 12.95 per cent – from ₹5.25 lakh crore to ₹5.94 lakh crore – to allow the military to develop and/or buy advanced weapons systems, including new fighter jets, submarines and tanks, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Wednesday as she presented the government’s budget. She also said the budget for capital expenditure had been increased by around ₹10,000 crore to settle at ₹1.62 lakh crore.