देश का केंद्रीय बजट (Union Budget 2025) 1 फरवरी को पेश होगा. इस वित्त मंत्री निर्मला सीतारमण (FM Nirmala Sitharaman) संसद में लगातार 8वीं बार पेश करेंगी. प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी (Narendra Modi) के तीसरे कार्यकाल का यह दूसरा बजट होगा. बजट को लेकर अलग-अलग सेक्टर की काफी उम्मीदें हैं, जिसमें से एक डिफेंस सेक्टर (Defence Sector) भी है. अनुमान है कि वित्त मंत्री डिफेंस सेक्टर के लिए बजट 2025 में फंड एलोकेशन बढ़ा सकती हैं. गुडरिटर्न्स की सीनियर एडिटर श्रुति सरकार ने डिफेंस सेक्टर की बजट से उम्मीदों, डिफेंस स्पेंडिंग समेत विकसित भारत (Viksit Bharat) पर एक्स-नेवी कमांडर नवनीत कौशिक से खास बातचीत की.
#defencebudget #budget2025 #indiabudget #IndiaDefenceBudget #DefenceSpending #SelfReliance
#MakeInIndia #IndigenousProduction #ViksitBharat #DevelopedIndia #DefenseReforms #StrategicInitiatives #DefenseManufacturing
~HT.97~PR.147~ED.148~GR.124~
#defencebudget #budget2025 #indiabudget #IndiaDefenceBudget #DefenceSpending #SelfReliance
#MakeInIndia #IndigenousProduction #ViksitBharat #DevelopedIndia #DefenseReforms #StrategicInitiatives #DefenseManufacturing
~HT.97~PR.147~ED.148~GR.124~
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NewsTranscript
00:00In this episode of Future Focus Budget 2025, today we will talk about one of the most important
00:12sectors of India, defence, the backbone of India.
00:16Hello and welcome, my name is Shruti Sarkar and you are watching Good Returns.
00:20India is advancing towards self-reliance, Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence by focusing
00:26on domestic procurement, increasing investments in R&D and strategic public-private partnerships.
00:33And as the 2025-26 defence budget approaches,
00:37let's have a very candid conversation with Commander Navneet Kaushik.
00:41Hello Navneet.
00:43Hi, good morning Shruti.
00:45Hi, good morning.
00:47Before we go ahead, a little bit about Commander Navneet Kaushik.
00:52He has experience of investments from technology department board, a statutory body of Department
00:58of Science and Technology, which provides financial support to Indian companies.
01:03And prior to that, he has served in the Indian Navy and has extensive experience
01:09in project management, defence acquisition.
01:13Navneet, as the budget approaches, the market experts and everyone else is also looking at
01:20how the defence budget will be, defence allocation.
01:24In your view, what is the defence budget allocation looks like?
01:28What is the expectations?
01:29What is the overall expectations from the budget in the defence sector?
01:33See, actually, defence, if you see the geopolitical scenario today,
01:38defence has become one of the most talked about topics and the hottest discussions right now.
01:43And it is a sector which requires a huge amount of investments, right?
01:48So here I have a, what do you know, my heart says something and my mind says something else.
01:53So I would say from my heart, I think the defence budget should increase because we need a lot of
01:58money coming into the sector, right?
02:01Because indigenous development and everything has to happen.
02:04But at the same time, my mind puts it differently because if you look at the
02:07committed liability, the contracts which have to come through, which have to be paid for,
02:12right? The countries which like India is one of the largest importers, right?
02:19So most of this equipment comes through from either the Israel, Russia or USA.
02:25Now, if you see geopolitical scenario today, all of them have been engaged within themselves.
02:30So that would have an impact on what are the allocations and whatever the
02:33requirements of the budgets are.
02:35But whichever way the budget goes, we don't have to be disappointed.
02:40If it goes, like my heart says, higher, more than happy because that is the need for an hour.
02:46But more importantly, the indigenous requirement, the focus on indigenisation
02:51has to be higher and which government has been doing a lot of work.
02:54Right, right.
02:54So I expect the budget to be, I hope the budget to be higher.
02:58We all do.
02:59Last time budget spending for defence was around 5%.
03:04India is number four globally in defence spending.
03:08My next question to you is a follow up question on that because you spoke about
03:13the weapons that we buy from US or Russia.
03:17Now, with Trump coming back to the picture, he's been the new president of
03:23the US and putting tariffs.
03:25Right now, the focus is on China and Russia and Canada,
03:28but you never know when the focus will change.
03:31So what kind of boost do we need for the defence sector, in your view, to become self-reliant?
03:40So I think we need a lot of, what you can say, one part is the budget allocation.
03:45Right.
03:46You can have the budget allocation, but at the end of the day, it's about the policies.
03:50How easy you make the policy, what you can say, for the industry to operate those policies or
03:56for the government to be able to execute those policies and allow the budgets to be spent.
04:02A lot of times what happens is while the policies are in place,
04:05the budgets are not there or the budgets are there and policies are not there.
04:09Now, what I see that a lot of things are aligning.
04:13The policies are aligning vis-a-vis the budget allocation.
04:16And there is a clear understanding, I think, with the Indians, not only the government,
04:22but Indians per se on the civilian side as well, that we have to look after our own interests.
04:28We can't be dependent on any, whether it is Russia or China or for that,
04:33what you can say, Israel or for that matter, USA.
04:36We have to be self-reliant.
04:37And it's not out of, what you can say, out of arrogance or something.
04:42It is a need.
04:43Everybody has to be self-reliant.
04:44I'm not saying India has to be something special.
04:47Like you just mentioned Trump, make America great again.
04:51Why shouldn't India be looking at that?
04:53Why should we be any different?
04:54We have to be like everybody else.
04:55Everybody looks after their interests.
04:57We also have to look after our interests.
04:59And for that, what you say, the defense becomes a pivoting point
05:04because under the umbrella of the defense, you have the economic growth happening.
05:08And defense tech also results in the tech coming to the civilian ecosystem.
05:14Like a simple thing, if you look at GPS, it started as a defense tech.
05:19But look at the GPS's impact in our whole lives now.
05:23You talk about Swiggy, Zomato, Ola, BlueSmart.
05:30You take any aspect of life and tell us, tell me where it is, GPS is not effective.
05:37Look at geospatial analytics, right?
05:39It started as a geospatial analytics, started as an intelligence thing.
05:44But today, if you look at the insurance sector,
05:46you look at agriculture sector, infrastructure monitoring,
05:49you name a sector where the geospatial analytics are not being used.
05:54A lot of, what you can say, spinoff of the defense tech comes into the civilian side.
06:00So we should not be looking at defense expenditure in isolation.
06:04And going vice versa, if I go the other way around in the tech,
06:09I think Pager was never a defense tech.
06:12Now Navneet, we spoke about Atmanirbhar Bharat, what we can do, defense allocation.
06:17Let's move forward.
06:19Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken several times about Viksit Bharat,
06:24when India will become a developed nation and hopefully by 2047.
06:30A little bit of background, a little bit of context setting is our India as an economy.
06:36The GDP growth has slowed down to 5.4% in the previous quarter.
06:41Inflation is relatively up more than 5%.
06:45Cost of living in most urban cities, if I could say, is pretty, pretty high.
06:52Consumption has also taken a hit.
06:54Now, in this scenario, in your view, is it possible that we achieve that target?
07:02If not, then how do you view this entire situation?
07:06How can we, you know, go back to double digit growth or actually reach a target
07:13of becoming a developed nation by 2047?
07:16See for Viksit Bharat, Bharat for me is not, what you can say, a stop target.
07:21At 2047, we are Viksit Bharat.
07:24For me, it's an ongoing journey.
07:25Even if you reach 2047, you'll still have an aim to go further up.
07:29What I'm looking for Viksit Bharat, what Honorable Prime Minister has said,
07:33Viksit Bharat target is 2047.
07:36But we'll have some bad years, we'll have some good years.
07:39And we are, today the world is not in isolation.
07:42The geopolitics, the global scenarios, the global conflicts are going to affect us,
07:46as we have seen in the past.
07:48Like oil prices going up affects everyone, right?
07:52The energy sector affects everyone.
07:53We can't be in isolation.
07:55So yes, there are times now, like you just mentioned, Trump coming into power.
08:00So that's a, there's a major shift which is likely to happen in the American ecosystem.
08:06Now, how that shift affects us, positively or negatively, is only time will tell.
08:11But I hope it will be positive because even the China counterbalance is coming.
08:15But again, having said that, China, I will not consider them as an enemy,
08:20but I'll consider them as a competition, right?
08:24And it's a positive way to compete.
08:25I have to look after my interest and they have to look after their interest.
08:28Coming to how can we accelerate growth?
08:31I think we have to look at tech, like what this government has been doing.
08:35And I'm saying from last 10-15 years, whatever we have seen,
08:39the focus towards the tech ecosystem, like digitization, it's changed the way things are done.
08:46Like Indian banking system, UPI, has changed the way we do banking.
08:50And I think we are one of the most advanced in this sector.
08:53But having said that, there are a lot of sectors which we are lagging,
08:57where we need to focus and government needs to come in.
08:59Typically, you look at social media, right?
09:02We have no social media, data control.
09:05Where are we with respect to that?
09:06So, there's a lot of money which has to get in, in all spheres of tech.
09:12And that is where I feel government has to be more liberal about it,
09:15less taxation probably towards the new tech or, you know, tax holidays for some time.
09:21Because you have to look at large, longer term.
09:24I understand government has a very difficult, you know, job cut out,
09:28because you have to look at long term and you have to look at the short term for survivability.
09:33And then you have to look at how do I grow?
09:35So, there's always a balance about.
09:37That's what I expect.
09:39Better tax, what you can say, structure, maybe a lower taxation for the time being,
09:44because that can spur the growth.
09:45The money is available, you can spur.
09:47And India is a domestic market.
09:49Where are we going to spend?
09:50We are only going to spend inside.
09:52And that will spur the growth.
09:54Good you spoke about social media, because before I let you go,
09:57I have a question for our, you know, a lot of our viewers and users are Gen Z,
10:06you know, people, Gen Alpha in fact, who are, you know, in college.
10:10Gen Z has slowly moved into the office.
10:13They've started working.
10:14Now, we see the only, I think, motivation of them to come online is to scroll through Reels.
10:23Yeah, this is, it has come to this.
10:25Now, what are your some of your suggestions, maybe advice for these people who should probably
10:32read a little bit more and may not be about budget.
10:35But you know, if you want, if they want to do wealth creation,
10:38basically, how can they contribute to India's journey of becoming a Vixit Bharat?
10:46Okay, thanks.
10:46Thanks.
10:47I think this is one of the questions which I think I would have
10:50not answered had you not asked me.
10:53But see, we are being a bit more judgmental and harsh towards this generation.
10:57But trust me, this has happened with every new generation.
11:01They are not new, so they should not feel isolated about it.
11:04But having said that, if you see today's generation has a lot of aspirations.
11:09While they may be going through a Reels and all, the game has changed.
11:13Right?
11:13The amount of information which is available on the internet
11:17is phenomenal, which we never had an access to.
11:20Today, I see at 20 years having an aspiration, which I didn't have it till maybe probably two
11:26years back.
11:28So I'm looking at a cycle cutting short by 20-30 years, the aspirations of young India today.
11:34They're just not looking to survive.
11:36They're looking to lead.
11:38They're hungry.
11:39And that's what you see.
11:40Like, what are the companies or the startups which I am interacting with?
11:44You look at their dreams.
11:47I have never thought something like that when I was that young.
11:51So yes, there is a downside to, what you can say, social media, but there's also an upside.
11:59So I'll always go with the brighter people are picking up the right thing from the,
12:03what you can say, the internet or scrolling the Reels.
12:06Not everyone is doing that.
12:08Some of them are picking up the right thing and doing the right research and coming up
12:11with new technologies, new startups.
12:13My only suggestion to this generation would be probably think big and believe in yourself
12:20because yes, we'll always be there naysayers.
12:23You'll fall.
12:25You just have to get up again.
12:27We didn't have that option to fail.
12:29We were always told, okay, there's only three parts.
12:31Either you're a doctor or an engineer or a fogey.
12:33That's it.
12:36But the times have changed.
12:36Today, you look at it, a youngster is like, he has got so much opportunities and so many
12:41cross streams.
12:43Actually, this is the best time in India to be for a youngster.
12:48So I'm very hopeful on this.
12:49In fact, you know, I was talking to some of the startup, the founders in the rural economy,
12:56okay, in the tier two, tier three cities.
12:59And they were speaking about, you know, small girls from villages, they want to be astronomers,
13:05not astrologers.
13:07They want to study astronomy.
13:09They want to study economics and AI.
13:12So that's fascinating.
13:13You know, a twist to the tale that, you know, you have to either become doctor or engineer
13:18or a fogey.
13:20And sometimes maybe journalist.
13:22Great conversation Navneet.
13:24I'm very happy.
13:25I'll just add on one more, just since you put the women part of it.
13:29So even think of it, my co-founder, one of my co-founders is Commander Kartik Gopal.
13:35He's also a naval officer.
13:36My other co-founder is Dr. Jyotsana Dalal, who is a PhD in microbiology.
13:42What's the last time you heard a, you know, PhD scholar who has got so much
13:46accolades thinking, okay, why not help companies to build and start a fund for themselves?
13:53They are into just research and innovation mostly and, you know, very academic way of
13:58living.
13:58Yeah.
13:58Yes.
13:59But then she has broken the mold and she's coming out and saying, okay, yeah, I have
14:02a PhD, so what?
14:03Yes, the aspirations have changed today.
14:05They're totally different.
14:06So it's like, I don't want to get, you know, typically whenever you say something, it's
14:11become political, but it is new India.
14:14It is new India.
14:15It is a new aspiration.
14:16Tier 2, Tier 3 cities are to watch out for because that is where, you know, the actual
14:22game lies.
14:23I always say India has started like after 1983 World Cup, if India has been dominating
14:29the cricket in a lot of sphere or a lot of places, it's because Bhoomras and other people
14:34who have come out from Tier 2, Tier 3 cities and that is where the success stories are
14:39going to come out from.
14:40I am absolutely hopeful, sir.
14:42I am very hopeful that, you know, we will get there.
14:45There is also another sector, the green energy sector, basically, that we have a target of
14:51achieving net zero by 2070, which is a little later than most European and US, you know,
14:59North American countries, but I think it is achievable.
15:03Sustainability is something that everybody is looking at.
15:06So a lot of it's a young India.
15:08We are there and yes, there are struggles, but then there are achievements too.
15:14So thank you so much for joining us today.
15:17I mean, we had great insights.
15:19Thank you viewers for watching us.
15:21That was the Commander Navneet Kaushik.
15:23Thank you for joining.