New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) Policy dialogue, strategic review, and institutional innovation are expected to dominate discussions at the Controllers’ Conference 2025 of the Defence Accounts Department (DAD) that will be inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday, an official said.

The conference, to be held here from July 7 to 9, aims to bring together top leadership from the DAD, civil services, academia, think tanks, and stakeholders across the defence and finance sectors.

“It serves as a vital platform for evaluating challenges, initiating reform, and advancing the role of financial governance in defence preparedness,” said the Defence Ministry in a statement on Sunday.

Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the conference in the presence of top military and civilian leadership, including Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, the three service chiefs and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh.

Financial Adviser, Defence Services, S.G. Dastidar, and Controller General of Defence Accounts, Mayank Sharma, will also join the conference that promises to serve as a platform for shaping the future of India’s defence financial architecture, the statement said.

The theme of this year’s conference, ‘Transforming Financial Advice, Payment, Audit and Accounting through Defence Finance and Economics,’ reflects a paradigm shift within the department, repositioning the DAD from a finance and accounts body to a future-ready institution focused on defence finance and economics, it said.

This transformation, guided by the strategic vision articulated by the Defence Minister on October 1, 2024, is internally driven, inclusive, and aligned with emerging national security imperatives.

The transition is anchored in the DAD’s new Mission Statement and Motto ‘Alert, Agile, Adaptive’ which will be formally released during the event, said the statement.

The conference will feature eight high-level business sessions (Manan Satras), covering areas such as budget and accounts reform, internal audit restructuring, collaborative research, pricing innovation, and capacity building.

These sessions will explore the evolving role of Integrated Financial Advisors in balancing fiscal prudence with strategic support for a competitive and self-reliant defence industry.

Managing a defence budget of Rs 26.8 lakh crore, including Rs 1.7 lakh crore dedicated to pensions, the DAD plays a pivotal role in payroll, pension disbursement, audit, procurement pricing, and strategic financial advice, said the statement.

–IANS

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