ICAI mulls centres of excellence in 17 cities

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has proposed to establish centres of excellence in 17 cities across the country by the end of 2015.

Addressing a press conference while inaugurating the National Tax Conference, organised by the Fiscal Laws Committee, ICAI, T N Manoharan, president of the institute, said that five of these 17 centres would come up in their regional headquarters and the remaining would be established in cities which have a population of 1,000 and above.

Elaborating further on their plans, he said, "The works at the Hyderabad and Mumbai centres are on full swing and would be completed by the end of December 2006. The company is scouting for land for setting up other centres," he said.

He added that the total expenditure would be met partly by the institute and partly from its members.

The institute has initiated measures to revise its curriculum by combining both theory and practice so as to enhance the quality of CA students. ICAI is also planning to conduct training programmes and workshops to familiarise its members and students in the application of IT in accounting profession.

"With information technology playing a major role in all spheres of economic activity, we plan to revamp the curriculum by including IT as a component of CA course. The infrastructural support will be lended by ICAI. The IT companies will provide the faculty support", he said.

"We are holding talks with IT companies such as Infosys, i-flex and Tally Solutions in this regard. We hope to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with these companies in a period of three to four months," he added.