Modi govt strengthening country’s defence in spirit of Kargil: Kishan Reddy

Hyderabad: Union Minister for Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy on Friday paid tributes to the Kargil war heroes.

Recalling the ultimate sacrifices made by the soldiers on the eve of the 26th Kargil Vijay Diwas, he said a series of measures have been taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to strengthen the armed forces and welfare of the soldiers in the last 10 years.

The Modi government is constantly taking steps to strengthen the Indian military, weapons system and defence sector. Every year, India’s defence department is allocated increased funding, he said.

The Union Minister said that in 2013-14, the UPA government allocated Rs 2.5 lakh crore to the defence department. In the financial year 2024-25, the Modi government increased it by two and a half times, allocating Rs 6,21,940.85 crore to the defence sector, which comes to 12 per cent of the total budget.

The increased funding empowers the defence forces to access the latest technology and the latest weapons from time to time. It also provides proper facilities with special attention to all aspects like clothing, shoes, shelters, bulletproof jackets, etc., according to the weather conditions of the soldiers in the area where they are stationed, he added. He said that in 2017, the country registered Rs 74,054 crore worth of defence equipment production and by 2023, it touched Rs 1,08,684 crore. Out of this, Rs 1,72,000 crore capital expenditure allocated to the Defence department this financial year, Rs 1,05,518.43 crore will be used to procure arms and defence equipment from domestic companies.

“Besides, Rs 518 crore have been allocated for promoting start-ups in the defence sector under the 'IDEX' scheme. Thus startups, MSMEs and innovators in the defense sector will get proper encouragement. Not stopping with this, domestically manufactured weapons have also started to be exported. Between 2004-14, India exported defence products worth Rs 4,312 crore, and during 2014-24, it increased by 20 times to Rs 88,319 crore. Now India has joined the top 25 countries in defence exports. This is the result of Modi's visionary decisions”, he added.

“In the past, there were no proper road facilities for soldiers to travel across the borders of the country. However, the Narendra Modi government has given special attention to the construction of roads at the borders of the country. This will enable the soldiers to reach the borders in the shortest possible time as per requirement. Even in the current budget, Rs 6,500 crore has been allocated for the construction of these roads, which is 30 per cent higher than last year. Thus, the development of better infrastructure at the borders will continue at a faster pace,” he added.