Army believes these measures will not only save a few thousand crores, but also help substantially meet its requirement of ammunition for the next three years

Faced with a deficiency in ammunition, the Indian Army is working on a proposal to utilise its budget in a judicious way to meet its critical requirements, government officials said.

The plan is to spend less on certain types of ammunition, such as a particular missile and spares for vintage vehicles, and instead use that money on buying new equipment and procurement for making up the ammunition level for 10 (I), or 10 days of intense war.

The army believes these measures will not only save a few thousand crores, but also help substantially meet its requirement of ammunition for the next three years. But the situation is grave, because there will still be a requirement of additional funds to make up for the deficiency, the officials said.

In addition, due to contracted liabilities (payments anticipated during a financial year for contracts concluded the previous years) and emergency procurement of ammunition and spares, there will be a need for prioritising procurement based on the budget available.


“For making up the levels of ammunition and spares, emergency procurement and 10 (I) procurement have been undertaken. But, no additional funds have been given for them,” an official said. 

This issue is likely to be discussed at the Army Commanders’ Conference on Monday. A key agenda for the conference is the “optimisation of limited budget to ensure making up of critical deficiency in ammunition”, the army said.