Tweet

Abhi and Niyu

13 Feb, 15 tweets, 4 min read

Decoding the Ministry of Defence Budget for 2021

A 🧵

@TakshashilaInst

To understand a broader picture, listen to this podcast by the @TakshashilaInst

open.spotify.com/episode/6gnQXd…

You don't need the Spotify app for this. It opens in the browser as well.

Let us deep dive into the Ministry of Defence budgets and compare it to the previous years:

Budget 2021:

Revenue Expenditure: Rs. 337,961.49 crores

Capital Expenditure: Rs. 140,234.13 crores

Total Budgetary outlay: Rs. 478,195.62

Budget Expenses 2020:

Revenue Expenditure: Rs. 322,761.99 crores

Capital Expenditure: Rs. 108,248.80 crores

Total Budgetary outlay: 431,010.79

This is how much was given to Ministry of Defence in the Union Budget in 2020.

Revised Estimates (how much the Government actually ended up spending)

Revenue Expenditure: 344,606 crores

Capital Expenditure: 140,130 crores

Total Actual spends: 484,736 crores

What does the Ministry of Defence cover?

MoD covers the Armed Forces i.e Army, Navy, Air Force. It also includes Defence Research & Development Org (DRDO), Dept of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (pensions), Department of Defence (education, policy etc)

mod.gov.in/about--ministry

Each of these components have their own allocation in the Ministry of Defence budgets. Attached is a screenshot for the Budget 2021

You can check the detailed budget for Ministry of Defence here:

Ministry of Defence Civil - indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/sbe18.p…

Defence Services Revenues -indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/sbe19.p…

Capex outlay - indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/sbe20.p…

Pension liability -
indiabudget.gov.in/doc/eb/sbe21.p…

With the incursions in Ladakh by the Chinese forces, spending on Border Roads was pushed up. In the revised estimates, the Govt ended up spending Rs.3,100 crores, up by Rs. 800 crores.

In 2021, Rs.2,500 crores have been allocated for Border Roads.

The Defence forces have always had a problem because they do not have funds for modernization. There is not enough research done and most defence procurement is done from abroad. This increases the costs. Majority of spends are made on revenue expenses.

The podcast that I shared explains the problem very well of lack of modernization in the Defence forces. I would recommend listening to it to get more information.

The second big payout for the Ministry of Defence is pensions. The amount of pension payouts is around 25% of the total budget.

This article explains the pension dilemma of the country

livemint.com/opinion/column…

As such, when you look at the budget, it is not very encouraging. We cannot take China very lightly. We don't have the funds to spend in so many critical areas. It is a very tough balancing line to walk because pension commitments can't be pushed.

Some interesting reading material from Policy experts:

takshashila.org.in/takshashila-di…

I will keep adding more to this thread as I read more about India's MoD

Let me know which Ministry to unpack next.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @abhiandniyu

Abhi and Niyu

@abhiandniyu

1 Feb

Decoding the Budget Documents: A 🧵

RT if you found it helpful

Budget Speech : What the Finance Minister talks in Parliament
Key to Budget Document: Other details to speech
Economic Survey: A survey of the economy for the previous year
Expenditure Budget: Where money is spent, in total and ministry wise

Finance Bill: Whatever is said in the Budget is given effect to through the Finance Bill. The MPs discuss the Finance bill and that bill changes each individual act where amendments are to be made.

Read 8 tweets

Abhi and Niyu

@abhiandniyu

31 Jan

#Thread
Blockchain is not equal to #cryptocurrency. But both technologies depend on each other. Feed on each other. Without the incentive of being paid in a decentralized cryptocurrency, there cannot be a blockchain. It will be just another centralized mechanism.

Blockchain needs resources: giant computers eating up a lot of power that act as extremely honest accountants. They are devotees of the work they are assigned to do and not of the company that owns them. Their work is their religion and crypto is their prasaad. (reward)

If blockchains operate on government sponsorships then we create another centralized mechanism - prone to hacking and prone to corruption. Like copying your homework from your notebook to a computer. Human errors are most likely.

Read 7 tweets

Abhi and Niyu

@abhiandniyu

27 Jan

I am an honest taxpayer. It is my taxes that make subsidies for farmers possible. And yes, there are HEAVY subsidies given to farmers. So, if anyone ignorant fool comes and says I don't care or contribute for them, then buzz off. You have no right.

I will make a detailed video showing these numbers. But don't you dare assume that I sit around with no concern for the country. So sick of the justification for the violence. Excuse me? The taxes I honestly pay to develop the country helps people earn TAX-FREE income

And yes, I don't burn the Capital because some people earn tax-free income and I don't. I work harder at my craft and pay more tax because I am responsible. Because I can see that welfare economics doesn't work if there is nobody to fund that welfare.

Read 7 tweets

Abhi and Niyu

@abhiandniyu

21 Jan

@narendramodi

Lastly, it is a huge shame @narendramodi @nstomar, the inability to take stakeholders along messed it up. The way the laws have been handled, their hurried passage in Rajya Sabha with voice vote was despicable. This conduct alienated people and pushed them towards misinformation.

https://twitter.com/abhiandniyu/status/1352306058048405505

@nstomar

I only hope the smarter thing to do @nstomar @PiyushGoyal is to invest more in Krishi Vigyaan Kendras, strengthen agri education in India, and find a way to implement the good sections of the law in a few States as an example. We urgently need water management in farming.

Rather than excess budgetary support to MSP procurement, I hope when the FM says its a revolutionary budget, they focus on what needs to be fixed in Agriculture. The supply side. The farms, the broken soil, the depleted groundwater. Because those changes will truly revolutionize

Read 4 tweets

Abhi and Niyu

@abhiandniyu

21 Jan

The see-saw in farmer protests is to be really honest, baffling. Having open discussions should be the norm. But the attitude of the farmers to not have any discussions is really making them lose credibility. The theory that protests have been hijacked is tending to make sense.

The tragedy of this colossal mishandling by the Govt is that now this method of blackmail becomes a template for people to oppose any reforms happening in the country, on petty political grounds. Shame.

The media in their rush to grab eyeballs has not shown a farmer from any other part of the country except the protesting states, doing those farmers who are genuinely marginal holders, a massive disservice.

Read 8 tweets

Abhi and Niyu

@abhiandniyu

20 Jan

@ShekharGupta

@ShekharGupta, we read a lot of The Print to get a perspective on different matters. When it comes to the #FarmBills, I genuinely hope you can start providing more well-rounded coverage that nobody is doing these days
I would love to see farmers from Odisha, TN, Assam interviewed

@ShamikaRavi

I would love perspective of Agri ministers, FPOs, Co-operatives from other parts of the country. Your own publication had a well written article by @ShamikaRavi about the decline on Punjab. And while I agree to it, I can't help but think at present, the focus is only on Punjab

Why not bring on the ground reports or interviews from all over the country? Let the farmers outside of Delhi-Punjab-UP area voice their views. Let us understand their problems. Not all of them likely benefit from MSP anyway. Their challenges will be completely different

Read 4 tweets

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Share this page!

Abhi and Niyu

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

More from @abhiandniyu

Abhi and Niyu

Abhi and Niyu

Abhi and Niyu

Abhi and Niyu

Abhi and Niyu

Abhi and Niyu

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Like this author's thread?