New Delhi: The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind said that it is for cost accountants to ensure that wasteful activities and costs in production are removed. It is for cost accountants to help in innovation and improvement of processes as well. The President said this while inaugurating the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI) here today.
The Platinum Jubilee Celebrations were also attended by Shri P. P. Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs & Law and Justice and Shri Subhash Chandra Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, besides other senior officials of ICAI here today.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that cost accountants play a substantial part in enhancing efficiency of processes – particularly in manufacturing – and of capital use. Cost accountants are the best managers of the three Ms of a business organisation. These are – men and women who work there; the materials used as inputs; and the machines deployed for processing, fabrication and creation. As global manufacturing evolves and as manufacturing in India gets a boost over the coming decade – with the maturing of our Make in India programme – cost accountants will have a bigger and bigger role. It will be Cost accountants’ mandate to ensure that products and services are delivered at a competitive price but without compromising on quality.
The President said that it is for cost accountants to ensure that wasteful activities and costs in production are removed. It is for cost accountants to help in innovation and improvement of processes and systems to reduce avoidable costs and make each rupee that is invested go that much further. It is for cost accountants to help fight the aberrations of gold plating that may sometimes appear on our business landscape. All this will strengthen the national effort to establishing India as a low-cost and competitive manufacturing hub for world-class products.
The President said that as our economy grows, he expects the demand for cost accountants to rise very sharply. It will do so not only in the corporate sector but also in government organisations. State governments as well as Ministries and Departments of the Union government are making efforts to rationalise expenses and costs. A Section 8 Company promoted by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Indian Railways to study the existing costing system in Indian Railways and suggest reforms for greater efficiency. In the days ahead, this learning can be extended to other fields, including defence acquisitions.
Minister of State for Law & Justice and Corporate Affairs Shri P.P. Chaudhary in his address said that in the last 75 years the ICAI has produced 74,000 cost accountants, thereby making it the second largest cost accounting body in the world and the largest in Asia.
Shri Chaudhary said that the institute has been at the forefront of implementing Government schemes/programmes by the way of conducting training professionals for compliance of GST and CSR spending and reporting. Shri Chaudhary praised ICAI for setting professional standards in competitive terms. Indian economy is growing fast and to stay ahead and manage cost and quality manpower, the services of cost accountants are indispensable. CMAs guide businesses to adopt practices that are optimal and efficient.
Referring to insolvency, Shri Chaudhary said that Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) resolve large Non-Performing Assets problem of PSU banks, prevent greedy promoters from acquiring debt laden companies by defrauding investors and will also ensure that home-buyers are not fleeced by the defaulting real estate companies. And it is upto the cost accountants to make the best use of IBC and ensure that the country derives maximum benefit out of it,
