Finance minister: ‘India will become world’s third biggest economy’
India needs economic freedom to achieve developed nation status by 2047 as the country continues its quest to become the world’s third-biggest economy, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.
“India should attain self sufficiency on economic matters. It should become an economic power. The country has come from 10th position to fifth in global rankings and a few years down the line we will achieve the third spot,” she said at the unveiling of a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at Shrimati Indira Gandhi College.
Maintaining that India is traditionally rich in culture, she said there were many people who have praised the country for its legacy. The Finance Minister told students: “About 20 years ago, many countries were commenting that India is a culturally rich country. But today most of the world nations are looking in awe on several fronts including how we have progressed by using the digital technology infrastructure. They showcase India as an example in tapping digital technology.”
Sitharaman said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was keen on developing every part of the country. She said: “That is why the G20 Summit was conducted in every state in our country last year. He (Modi) wanted every state to gain the experience of hosting a G20 Summit and that it should not rest in Delhi alone. He used to request to take all the benefits across the country to every district. Even those districts which were economically backward needs to be developed and that is how we have announced the aspirational districts scheme.”
Conference focuses on improving corporate governance
The financial authorities in India need to enhance trust in the financial and non-financial reporting system and improve corporate governance for all stakeholders.
That’s the view of Ajay Bhushan Prasad Pandey, chair of the National Financial Reporting Authority, speaking at the ‘Financial Reporting & Governance Framework – Building Trust’ conference, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Dr Pandey highlighted “five lines of defence of financial reporting and sound corporate governance – management, audit committee and independent directors, auditors, investors and regulators”. He said “all five lines of defence needs to be vigilant and work together to build trust”.
NFRA chair also told the conference that “the NFRA intends to engage with audit committees and independent directors at time of inspections to gather perspective as a part of larger efforts to improve audit quality as well as corporate governance”.
Dr Pandey told delegates: “Amid the fourth industrial revolution the growing use of technology in various facets of audit, ranging to detection of frauds to identification of Related Party Transactions (RPTs), NFRA is looking at establishing an Innovation Lab or Sandbox to support cutting-edge auditing techniques.”
He said that the investor community expect auditors to exercise professional scepticism and follow path of ‘Trust but Verify’ and thus, emphasised the need for Indian audit firms to start ‘risk-based’ pricing for their audits.
Also speaking at the conference, Deloitte India’s N. Venkatram stated that “India has the opportunity to reap the benefits presented by its demography and the digital dividend. The focus on adaptive regulation should be sustained, keeping pace with innovation and technological progress.”
And Mark Billington, Managing Director International of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), said it was important that “India has selected ‘responsibility’ as the second word in its transformational Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework as the responsible business section of the BRSR particularly resonates with chartered accountants. Responsibility needs to be in the DNA of business. In that sense BRSR is not a compliance exercise – it is in the culture of a business; it is about how and why we do business.”
CA Shri Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), said: “ICAI plays a crucial role in the nation’s financial reporting and governance framework. The Institute upholds high standards of accounting and auditing practices, ensuring transparency and reliability in financial reporting, promoting good governance across the nation.
“The Institute actively engages with policymakers and regulatory authorities to provide inputs on financial and economic policies, where it helps in formulating policies conducive to economic development, fiscal discipline and financial stability.”
