1st defence corridor in TN linking Chennai, B'luru: Sitharaman on Union Budget
New Delhi: Hours after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced construction of first defence corridor starting at Tamil Nadu, linking Chennai and Bengaluru.
Announcement for the second corridor will soon be made soon, she added.
While announcing the Union Budget in the Parliament Arun Jaitley proposed setting up two defence industrial corridors in the next fiscal.
An outlay of Rs 2.95 lakh crore was on Thurday set aside for the defence budget for the next fiscal which is an increase of 7.81 per cent over last year's Rs 2.74 lakh crore.
Also read: Union Budget 2018: Key highlights
Out of the total allocation, the capital outlay for the three defence services for purchase of new weapons, aircraft, warships and other military hardware has been pegged at Rs 99,947 crore.
The outlay for defence budget amounted to 12.10 per cent of the total budget of Rs 24,42,213 crore for 2018-19.
In his budget speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appreciated the role played by the armed forces in meeting challenges on the country's borders as well as in managing the internal security environment, both in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
Also Read: Rs 2.95 lakh crore allocated for defence budget for 2018-19
Compared to revised estimate of Rs 2.79 lakh crore for the defence budget in 2017-18, the increase in allocation has been 5.91 per cent but compared to the budget outlay of Rs 2.74 lakh crore, the hike is 7.81 per cent.
