India is today seen as a defence exporter due to the government's efforts to achieve self-reliance in the sector, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.

In his address at the 277th Annual Day celebrations of the Defence Accounts Department (DAD) at the Bharat Mandapam here, he said, that of a total of 32 lakh defence pensioners, 30 lakh have been successfully linked to the SPARSH -- System for Pension Administration (Raksha) -- portal.

SPARSH is a web-based system for processing pension claims and crediting the pension directly into the bank accounts of defence pensioners without any external intermediary.

While commending the Defence Accounts Department's focus on technology adoption, Singh asserted that despite numerous challenges, the department has been successful in the implementation of this web-based system.

SPARSH Audit Manual was among the publications of the department launched by him to mark the day. Other publications and initiatives included the Comprehensive Statistical Handbook on Defence Expenditure (COSHE) 2024, Market Intelligence Report 2023-24, and Defence Travel System 2.0.

He lauded the department for focusing on every little detail, which leads to necessary improvements in defence-related policies and proposals.

Reflecting on the progress achieved in the defence sector in the last few years, Singh said there was a time when acquisitions were mainly dependent on imports, and the positive impact of defence expenditure on the economy was "very limited".

He said due to the Narendra Modi-led government's efforts to attain self-reliance, India is today seen as a defence exporter.

Singh urged the department to prepare a roadmap to make it a 'Centre of Excellence' in the field of defence finance and economics.

He also batted for establishing a robust and comprehensive data management system that gives analytical reports to the government on the impact of defence expenditure on the country's economy, such as the contribution of defence vendors in revenue and employment generation.

"This will prove to be helpful in establishing a holistic policy regime, which would develop a sense of 'whole of the government approach'," he added.

Singh exhorted the department to remain innovative in its thinking and continue exploring new frontiers in defence accounting and financial management.

He emphasised that every individual would have to contribute to realise the prime minister's vision of a 'Viksit Bharat by 2047'.

Singh also gave away the Raksha Mantri Awards for Excellence 2024 to two teams for exhibiting exemplary initiative in implementing key department projects. The teams were -- PCDA (Pensions) Prayagraj for 'Achieving Milestone in redressing Grievances' and PIFA (Air Force) New Delhi for the 'Automatic Replenishment System (ARS) Scale Analysis', it said.

Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, Secretary, Department of Defence R&D and Chairman, DRDO, Samir V Kamat, and other senior officials of the Ministry of Defence were present on the occasion.

Tracing its roots to the appointment of the Military Pay Master in 1747, the department has continuously reinvented itself to provide exemplary services to the armed forces, and in turn to the nation, in the fields of internal audit, accounting, financial advice and defence pensions management.

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