The Fifteenth Finance Commission headed by Shri N.K. Singh held a meeting with the Ministry of Defence led by the RakshaMantri, Shri Rajnath Singh in New Delhi today.
It will be recalled that a notification was brought out by the Ministry of Finance on 29July, 2019 following an Order made by the President of India. By this Order, the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the 15th Finance Commission was amended and Paragraph 9A was inserted in the ToR namely: “The Commission shall also examine whether a separate mechanism for funding of defence and internal security ought to be set up, and if so, how such a mechanism could be operationalised.”
It is in follow-up of this revised ToR that today’s meeting was held. The Ministry of Defence gave its Fund Projections for the period 2020-2025 - which is also the award period of the 15th Finance Commission.
The Commission was informed that the Ministry was exploring a number of Alternative Sources of funding.
The Commission assured the Ministry of Defence that it would take into consideration all the suggestions made that would help to increase the overall capital space of the Ministry, bring about predictability and help the Ministry in its defence preparedness.
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MC