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Cash crunch hits defence shopping
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Faced with a deteriorating fiscal situation, the Centre is believed to be going slow in clearing big-ticket defence purchases in the final quarter of the financial year.
Sources said a slew of large orders scheduled for clearance between January and March may not be given clearance.

North Block has returned the file for the second phase of military modernization along the Chinese border with several queries. The second phase involves a total commitment of Rs 65,000 crore over the next five years, including 90,000 new recruits as soldiers.

On the Navy front, the ministry has returned the proposal on the second phase of Karwar port development estimated at about Rs 13,000 crore.

The Air Forceâ??s proposal for acquiring Basic Trainer Aircraft has been red-flagged by the finance ministry.

According to a Cabinet member, these were because of the tenuous fiscal situation.