NEW DELHI, Feb 20: India is likely to hike defence spending by 25 to 30 per cent in its annual budget next week, as the country’s armed forces remain poised for war with Pakistan, a report said on Wednesday.

“The government is set to increase the defence expenditure by a whopping 25 to 30 per cent,” a report in The Economic Times newspaper said, citing unidentified sources.

“This will take the figure up from the current Rs620 billion ($13bn) to Rs780bn to Rs810bn during 2002-2003,” the report said.

The sources said the decision was recently taken at a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee along with Defence Minister George Fernandes and Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha.—AFP