SPARSH extends TCS contract to streamline pension services for defence personnel

By centralizing the pension disbursement process and eliminating bank service charges, the SPARSH programme has saved the government approximately Rs 250 crore annually.

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on November 26 announced that it has signed a three-year extension of its contract for SPARSH (System for Pension Administration – Raksha), an Indian government-led initiative to streamline pension distribution for over 3 million defence pensioners.

This is in line with TCS’ plans to continue expanding business in the India region and emerging markets, as demand uncertainty persists in core geographies like North America.

As a part of the contract, the IT services major will be maintaining the hardware and software of the programme and also deliver key updates to the system.

TCS first started the rollout of pension processing on SPARSH in October 2020. SPARSH was digitally transformed resulting in reduced pension processing timelines from 12-18 months to just 14 days.

Additionally, first-time pension payments are now processed within five to seven days.
“A key achievement for TCS has been its role in implementing the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme, which ensures that defence personnel of the same rank and length of service receive the same pension, regardless of when they retire. TCS has enabled the processing time to reduce from six to eight months to just two weeks, allowing the disbursement of OROP to 1.8 million eligible pensioners in a record time of 15 days,” the company said.

By centralizing the pension disbursement process and eliminating bank service charges, the SPARSH programme has saved the government approximately Rs 250 crore annually.

Girish Ramachandran, president–growth markets and public services, TCS, said, “The SPARSH project exemplifies TCS’ commitment to leveraging technology for social good, streamlining critical pension services for those who have served our nation. By reducing processing times and implementing efficient digital solutions, we’re helping ensure timely, transparent pension disbursement while setting new benchmarks in public service delivery.”

The SPARSH system has been a large-scale effort involving the digitization of millions of records, dating back to 1914, and onboarding of over 3 million defence pensioners across the three branches of the Armed Forces.

TCS has onboarded 50 organizations, 2,302 offices, and disbursed a total amount of over Rs 2,82,067 crore in pensions, benefiting both pensioners and the government.

Tej Paul Bhatla, SVP and business head, public services – India, TCS, added, “This collaboration reflects our ongoing commitment to nation-building, and we are proud to continue contributing to initiatives that support the well-being of those who have served our country.”

Apart from the ongoing Rs 15,000-crore BSNL deal, TCS has also been working with India’s leading stock exchanges, powered RTGS and NEFT, transformed the passport issuance process, and re-imagined several other Central and state government businesses.