NEW DELHI — Mirroring China’s military buildup, India is raising its defense spending by 13% to 1.93 trillion rupees ($38.6 billion) to fast-track the modernization of its armed forces. In real terms, the boost in defense allocation amounts to 224.7 billion rupees over the revised estimates of 1.71 trillion rupees for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012. Discounting this increase of 65.22 billion rupees, the hike comes to 17.6% over the 1.64 trillion rupees originally allocated.

NEW DELHI — India’s budget for space projects will see a slight increase of just over 1% for the 2012/2013 fiscal year, as the country’s space agency prepares human spaceflight missions and readies its long-awaited Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk. III, designed to make India self-reliant in boosting heavier communication satellites.

India Friday unveiled a 40 billion rupee ($800 million) bailout package for cash-strapped flag carrier Air India as part of the federal government’s budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1. Although the cash infusion will provide relief to the state-run carrier, which has been struggling with high fuel prices and a large debt load, the package is smaller than the 55 billion rupees that had been expected.