Piyush Goyal concludes visit to Saudi Arabia
During the visit, Goyal participated in the Plenary Session of the 8th Edition of Future Investment Initiative (FII), with representatives from global governments and the industry.
Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, presenting his maiden Budget in Parliament on 1 February, said that for the first time the defence budget has been enhanced beyond Rs 3 lakh crore.
Presenting the Union Budget 2019-20, which according to the government is Interim Budget, today in Lok Sabha, Goyal said that additional funds will also be allocated for defence whenever needed.
“Madam Speaker it is a moment of pride for us that this year, for the first time, our defence budget has been set for over Rs 3 lakh core. For securing borders and to maintain preparedness of the highest order, if necessary, additional funds will be provided,” he said.
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The defence budget for 2018-19 was Rs 295,511 crore.
Presenting the last Budget before the before the general elections, Goyal said that the NDA government has announced “substantial hike” in military service pay.
“The government has announced substantial hike in military service pay for all service personnel and special allowances give to Navy and Air Force personnel deployed in high areas,” he said.
Taking a jibe at the UPA government, Goyal said that the previous government promised One Rank One Pension in their budgets but it was the NDA government which implemented it in “true spirit”.
Goyal said that the government has already disbursed Rs 35,000 crore under OROP.
“In our election manifesto we promised to implement OROP, pending for last 40 years,” he said.
“Previous governments announced OROP in three budgets but sanctioned a mere Rs 500 crore in the Interim Budget of 2014-15,” he said amid an uproar in Parliament.
“In contrast we have already disbursed Rs 35,000 crore after implementing the OROP in true spirit,” he said.
In last year’s Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had proposed the development of two defence industrial production corridors.
On 20 January this year, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurated the Tamil Nadu defence industrial corridor. On 11 August last year, the Uttar Pradesh defence industrial corridor was launched in Aligarh.
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