India military chiefs given increased spending power

New Delhi: Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Monday has agreed to increase the ceiling of the spending limits of the three armed forces headquarters.

The move will allow each of the armed services — army, navy and air force — to spend Rs150 million (Dh9.7 million), a three-fold increase from the existing Rs50 million limit.

The announcement was made after the minister met the chiefs of the army, navy and air force chiefs here during which they reviewed the country’s security situation, a defence ministry spokesperson said.

Antony also had a one-on-one meeting with General V.K. Singh ahead of his meeting with the service chiefs.

The meeting comes three days after the army chief gave interviews to television channels where he criticised the government for allegedly planting stories in the media against him.

“To accelerate the process of procurement for the armed forces, Defence Minister Antony today [Monday] gave his in principle approval to a three-fold hike in the delegation of financial powers to service headquarters from the current Rs.50 crore to Rs.150 crore,” the spokesperson said.

The decision comes over two months after General Singh wrote Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over deficiencies in the defence preparedness of the army, and the letter was leaked to the media.

Women officers

Antony, in the meeting, also directed the three service chiefs to “explore more avenues” for giving permanent commission to women in the armed forces.