Defence Budgeting and Planning in India : The Way Forward

Contents Preface. 1. Budgeting priorities resource allocation and control. 2. Defence budgeting in India viewed as a resource allocation process. 3. Defence budgeting a Revised Estimates (RE) Budget Estimates (BE) affair. 4. Defence budget and obligational expenditure. 5. Defence budgeting process in India a totally bureaucratic process. 6. Defence budgeting and higher organisation of defence. 7. Budgetary design. 8. The new steps towards budgetary control an initiative lost an attempt to regain. 9. Budgets and control of expenditure. 10. Defence five year Plans and defence budgets. 11. Defence perspective plans and defence budgets. 12. A top down perspective planning model can it function. 13. Imperative need of a defence review. 14. A capability based planning approach. 15. Developing a strategic vision. 16. Can we not have a five year defence budget plan. Index. The Defence budgeting system in Indian is not linked to the medium term planning and cannot therefore play a useful role as a management tool or help rational allocation of resources. How this link is established is elucidated in this book in a meaningful way through an interactive process. Even for better expenditure control the planning and management functions have to be made an integral part of the budgeting system. Reforms need to be brought about in the process of budgeting giving adequate attention to the planning phase for establishing goals and priorities for resource allocation. An analysis of the model of responsibility budgeting through New Management Strategy is a special feature of the book. Modernization and capability building of the armed forces are important goals of resource allocation for defence. For this purpose Defence Budgeting has to be linked to Long Term Defence Plan (LTDP) or the perspective planning. Drawing up LTDP requires strategic vision and clear policy goals. Adopting a business model of decision making for capability building has been advocated in this book. The long and medium term planning need comprehensive defence review. This is because capability based approach in planning begins by asking questions regarding what do we need to do rather than what equipments we need to replace. Capabilities are to be identified based on an analysis of operational requirements and tasks to be performed as has been undertaken by many western countries in the post cold war period. Only within such a framework can defence planning and budgeting aim at achieving efficiency and effectiveness and accountability of higher management for outcome can be established. The author stresses the imperative need for conducting such a defence review for establishing a framework as a major step towards achieving an effective defence. 398 pp.…