NEW DELHI: Govt does not wish for India to ever face UPA-era shortages of weapons, ammunition and equipment again, and wants a steady flow of revenue to keep its defence capabilities ready to meet the needs of modern warfare, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Friday as Lok Sabha passed a bill to levy a cess on pan masala manufacturing units to augment national security and public health. In her reply to the debate on the ‘Health Security se National Security Cess Bill’, Sitharaman spoke at length on the govt’s defence priorities and touched on Operation Sindoor to emphasise that modern conflicts are becoming capital-intensive due to the domination of precision weapons, autonomous system, space assets and cyber operations, making it imperative to constantly update technology. S

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