India's defence budget for Fiscal Year 2008-09 (FY08-09) has risen to INR1,056 billion (USD26.4 billion) - a 10 per cent rise over the previous year. In announcing his budget on 29 February, Finance Minister P Chidambaram assured parliament that "any further amount needed for the defence forces... would be provided". However, military officials said that bureaucratic procurement procedures and a lack of timely decision making was delaying much-needed modernisation.
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