New Delhi, Feb. 18 -- Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has said that the defence budget would go up by 9.5 percent from the current Rs 6.21 lakh crores to Rs 6.81 lakh crores in 2025-26.

Rajesh Kumar Singh said, "The current year's defence budget was Rs 6.21 lakh crores, which will go up by 9.5 percent to Rs 6.81 lakh crores in 2025-26. We should be spending 30 billion dollars per annum over the next decade as part of modernisation. Out of this capex budget, 75 percent is earmarked for procurement from domestic sources and 25 percent of this is earmarked for domestic private industry."

He further said that relaxation in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy and industrial licensing procedure are other elements that will propel the ...