Article Posted on : - Aug 23, 2013

NEW DELHI (PTI): The country's bad economic condition appears to have hit the Defence Ministry with A K Antony ruing that it was not getting adequate funds for modernisation of the armed forces.

"In view of the present economic situation, we are not getting adequate funds as per our expectations. The entire budget of the Ministry is being spent. There are many proposals in the pipeline," he said.

The Defence Minister said those days were gone when Defence Ministry could not utilise all the allocated funds contrary to the current situation when no fund was refunded.

"We are not returning a single paisa. But, we are not getting the expected fund," he said.

The Defence Minister, who was giving clarification during a debate on August 14 INS Sindhurakshak accident in Rajya Sabha, said additional funds would be sought from the government after the armed forces have exhausted their allocated capital acquisition funds for the present fiscal.

On plans to get more submarines for the Navy after the loss of the Sindhurakshak, he said six submarines were being constructed at the Mazagon Dockyards Limited and sanction for six more was in advanced stages of being cleared.

Of the budget of over Rs 2.03 lakh crore, over Rs 86,000 crore have been earmarked for modernisation, which is more than Rs 40,000 crore short of the projected demand of the ministry.