Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley inspects a guard of honour on-board the Indian Navy's aircraft carrier INS Viraat in Mumbai. PHOTO: AFP
The policy announcement comes just after the new right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in late last month.
India's weapons acquisition programme was bogged down by a string of graft scandals under the previous Congress led government of Manmohan Singh that was ousted in general elections staggered over April and May.
"National security is an issue which has always been a priority issue for us (the BJP)," Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters.
India needed more defence procurement and faster procurement, Jaitley added.
The country still has a number of procurement needs, including for fighter jets, combat helicopters, as well as artillery, drones and electronic warfare systems, as it seeks to update its ageing military hardware.
"Some mechanism needs to be set up to expedite the procurement process," he said.
"This government is committed to national security and we feel the red tape involved in purchase of defence equipments must be cut down," Jaitley said on the sidelines of a ceremony to commission two coastguard ships.
"Balancing the resource constraint and making available all the resources that are required for national security is going to be the approach of the government," Jaitley, who is also finance minister, said.
Jaitley said coastal security topped the priorities of the government and induction of new vessels would help Coast Guard officials secure the coastline.
In the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which 166 people died, 10 heavily armed militants crossed the Arabian Sea to Mumbai.
Defence analysts say there are still chinks in India's coastline security despite moves to increase security.
India's coast is patrolled by the Coast Guard, marine police and other agencies.
Under Modi, Delhi is expected to adopt a more muscular foreign policy. Analysts say the Hindu nationalist leader will likely get tougher in border disputes with China.
The party's election manifesto pledged to "deal with cross-border terrorism with a firm hand" and take a "strong stand" when needed.
Jaitley's comments came as China's foreign minister was set to begin a two-day visit Sunday to India for the first high-level talks between the world's two most populous nations since Modi took charge.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi is coming to New Delhi as a special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping to "establish contact with the new government of India", the Indian foreign ministry said.
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@a_writer: I agree with you entirely. Even if they have to wear a national dress, there are better choices available.
@Bhakhtiyar ghazi khan Which dreamland are you living in? India crossed Pakistan decades and decades ago in arms race. As stated, india's defence budget is equal to that of your whole federal budget. Without even bringing the rest of india's GDP into count.There's no equal footing between both countries my friend. Wake up.
@baktiyaar ghazi khan. Chinese goods and quality? Joke of the day. Btw we buy goods from French, uk,USA,Israel, Russia etc unless you are accusing these countries of exporting poor quality arms which is not the case because maximum of world countries buys from same countries mentioned above.
Pakistani approach is Quality, Indian approach is Quantity. That's the major difference. India can never compete with Pakistan and China on equal footing in the arms race.
For all those who says India dont have toilet then let them come and built toilets and if they cant just shut up and get out and look at their own poverty etc background,they are not super rich either.
@gangu: When enemies comes to our doorstep should we go and hide inside the toilets?
Pakistanis are burning now, there are so many beggars on pakistani streets i think they should cut their defense budget and help out their ppl. If India spends big chunk of money on its defense is because its strong economy allows it, the money doesn't come from western countries aid!
@Grace: For ur knowledge in india only 11% are below poverty line far below than pakistan 60%... acco to world bank 2011 ICP report! Which released last month! http://m.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/091808e0-d6da-11e3-b95e-00144feabdc0.html
Fact, India has over 1.2 billion people in it, nearly half of them dont have access to a toilet.
The photo is disgusting. For someone who holds an important portfolio, Mr. Jaitley appears to have no pride in his job. He is dressed like an ordinary bum who just got out of bed in the morning and on his way to the bathroom take care of the 'morning business'. He probably feels that 'I am a VVIP, I can do anything I want'; but he projects the image of a homeless deadbeat.
Fact:Indian $39.2 billion defense budget for 2013-14 is equal to pakistan's whole 2014-15 federal budget which is $39.2 Billion
Why does India waste so much money on armaments when there is so much poverty there? over half billion Indians don't have toilets and so many sleep hungry on the streets. I am glad that Pakistan spends much less percentage on weapons but still the military is able to defend against Indian aggression in the region.
With Modi at helm decisions wud be swift and delivery mechanism too importantly