ICAI to expand SIRC

Coimbatore: Efforts are on to expand the Coimbatore branch of SIRC of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

The ICAI Central Council Member, Mr G. Ramaswamy, told newspersons that the branch expansion project was estimated at Rs 5 crore.

“We have just finalised the land. Construction activities would commence soon and the new premise is expected to become operational in about a year’s time.”

The institute has already invested around Rs 30 lakh on establishment of the IT lab in its present location.

Centres of Excellence:

The ICAI, which is currently celebrating its Diamond Jubilee Year, plans to establish 10 ‘Centres of Excellence’ across different locations in a span of five years.

“We have established one at Jaipur and the Hyderabad centre is expected to be inaugurated soon. The Government of Karnataka has allotted about five acres of land in Bangalore for establishing a centre and we are in consultation with the Tamil Nadu Government for allocation of land, albeit at a concessional rate, in Chennai. These centres would help groom fresh talent and leverage the capabilities of senior professionals,” he said.

“As part of this celebration, we plan to popularise the Chartered Accountancy Course by focusing on CPT (Common Proficiency Test) among school finalists. The response has been phenomenal. Out of the 400-odd students, who appeared for the CPT in Coimbatore, 76 have cleared the test. The number – both registration and pass rate – are on the rise,” Mr Ramaswamy said.

He shared these developments after inaugurating a one-day seminar on ‘Accounting Standard 15 (Revised) on Employee Benefits with Inputs from Actuarial Sciences for Chartered Accountants.’

New initiatives:

On the new initiatives, he said, the ICAI council has approved new advertisement guidelines for the members in practice, which would enable them to compete in the present scenario.

On the implication of the seminar, he said, “The institute has identified the emerging opportunities in the insurance and pension sectors for members – both in practice and service. There is a need to train and equip members in insurance. The committee on insurance and pension has started conducting programmes on AS 15 (Revised) on employee benefits throughout the country.”