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The Parliamentary Committee on Defence has lauded the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for generating savings of Rs 2,64,156 crore over the past five years through its indigenous R&D initiatives.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, in a report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, said DRDO had also achieved “crucial milestones” in developing next-generation hypersonic technologies and advanced missile systems during the past and current financial year.
Congratulating DRDO on its “various feats”, the committee expressed confidence that the organisation would continue to advance India’s capabilities in complex and critical defence technologies.
According to the report, the Ministry of Defence informed the panel of several key developments, including the successful flight-test of India’s first long-range hypersonic anti-ship missile in November 2024. Earlier, in March 2024, DRDO also conducted its first test of Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology using an Agni-series ballistic missile, enabling a single missile to deploy multiple warheads at different targets.
The committee was further briefed on a series of indigenous accomplishments:
- The Very Short Range Air Defence System (VSHORADS) has been successfully developed and flight-tested.
- The Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) has completed Provisional Staff Qualitative Requirements (PSQR) validation trials with the Indian Army.
Pension Migration to SPARSH Nears Completion
In a separate report, the committee noted that India currently has 6,40,536 defence civilian pensioners and 26,79,645 armed forces pensioners.
It said the Defence Ministry is implementing the System for Pension Administration (Raksha), or SPARSH, to streamline pension sanction and disbursement. So far, 28.24 lakh defence pensioners have been migrated to SPARSH, through which Rs 67,388.45 crore has been disbursed in FY 2024–25 up to August 2024.
While appreciating the scale of migration, the committee recommended expediting the onboarding of the remaining pensioners.
The panel also recorded that, as part of efforts to expand India’s defence exports, the newly created defence public sector undertakings have identified major target countries and exportable products aligned with both current and future requirements of those markets.
Team BharatShakti
