Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said the One Rank, One Pension (OROP) scheme for the armed forces would cost the government Rs.7,483 crore a year even as veterans opposed to the government’s formula are moving the Supreme Court.

Parrikar said on Sunday that the revised pensions had been credited into the accounts of retired armed forces personnel by 31 January. In case it had not been disbursed by January-end, the money will be given from February.

A group of agitating veterans led by retired Major General Satbir Singh have enlisted the services of senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani to fight their case in the Supreme Court. They want the government to implement OROP according to the terms laid down by Koshiyari Committee.

“Every person in the country has the right to approach the court,” Parrikar told reporters at Visakhapatnam, where an international fleet review by the Indian Navy is underway. He was addressing the media after inaugurating an international maritime conference.

The OROP arrears from 1 July 2014 to 31 December 2015 would total Rs.10,980 crore. Parrikar, however, said a few “minor” issues remained and these will be addressed in line with the common formula.

He added that the government has increased the OROP amount by 21%. The annual amount dedicated to OROP is 15 times the Rs.500 crore allocation made by the previous United Progressive Alliance government, the defence minister said.

Veterans have been pressing the government to implement OROP, which will ensure a uniform pension to armed forces retirees with the same rank and same length of service, for the past 43 years. Implementation of OROP will have a “significant impact” on the country’s fiscal bill, HSBC Bank Plc said in September 2015, estimating a burden to the exchequer of Rs.16,000 crore in fiscal year 2015-16.

Apart from OROP, the centre will also have to make provisions to implement Pay Commission recommendations for 10 million government employees. It might have to set aside Rs.1.1 trillion to implement the recommendations and OROP, finance minister Arun Jaitley was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.