Aerospace Diary

AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE  »  JULY 11, 2014 by    NEELAM MATHEWS India's Finance and Defense Minister, Arun Jaitley, delivered the country's defense budget on July 10. Overall it is bigger, but the air force allocation has shrunk. July 11, 2014, 7:25 AM Foreign companies can now own 49 percent of Indian defense companies, following a change announced as part of the  country’s budget statement  on July 10. The budget was presented by Finance and Defense Minister Arun Jaitley, a member of the newly elected government. It includes an allocation of $38.17 billion for defense, a gain of 12.44 percent. Some $15.76 billion of this (up from $13.15 billion last year) is capital expenditure, used primarily for procurement. The increase in foreign direct investment ( FDI ) prompted mixed reactions from the industry. “The budget is disappointing; 49 percent is unlikely to get significant flows, as industry partners in high-t...

AINONLINE by    NEELAM MATHEWS Indian Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley disappointed the country's aviation industry by failing to address its multiple concerns in his new budget. July 11, 2014, 6:30 AM With India’s airlines still mired in losses, the country’s new budget announced on July 11, did little to address some of the aviation industry’s most pressing concerns. It offered nothing on reforms in taxation on aviation fuel and maintenance, repair and overhaul–long issues of contention the aviation industry hoped India’s new government would address. In fact, the finance minister’s budget speech did not once allude to aviation, raising concern that the new government will be as ineffectual in removing obstacles to industry growth as its predecessor. The entry of domestic startups–AirAsia India and soon to be launched Tata  SIA —appears likely to exacerbate the situation as they released more seats in a market where supply already exceeds...

Neelam Mathews Feb 28, 2013 At Aero India when AerospaceDiary asked the first question at the Minister of Defense press conference on the forthcoming budget , we were told the budget would be slashed.. India's  Defense now gets Rs  203,672 crores' as against last year's Rs 1.95 crores, an increase of approx 4.5% .  Of the total defense outlay for 2013-14,Rs 86,741 crore will be for capital expenditure.  In any case the rupee depreciation last year actually shrank the budget! So how much of this is an increase, needs to be seen. Finance Minister added: "The minister of defense has  been understanding and I have  assured him constraints will not come into the way (in case money is urgently needed).  " Despite our constraints we must find funds for science and technology, space and nuclear science," which have been given a substantial Rs   6780crore. Of this Rs  5600 cr. is for the ministry of space.