"FINANCIAL LITERACY CRITICAL FOR INDIA'S FUTURE GROWTH"

Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, President CA, ICAI, talks to BW Businessworld's Mayank Badhwar and Shruti Tripathi about the industry challenges, technological advancements and the future of financial literacy in India. Excerpts

- Mayank Badhwar and Shruti Tripathi

How can the industry and stakeholders like CAs, regulators and companies better navigate today’s business challenges?

India is seeing over 7 per cent growth and has become a $4-trillion economy with a young, tax-contributing population of 1.4 billion. Despite the government’s bid to improve the ease of doing business, the environment remains complex due to numerous laws. The GST law aims to formalise the economy, while the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code allows more effective resource utilisation when factory owners cannot create value.

The government’s efforts are evident, especially in startup funding, making India the third-largest startup ecosystem globally. However, issues with the GST law cause compliance difficulties for businesses, which we are actively addressing. The business environment is thriving, reflected in the growth of the stock market, tax collections and economic growth rate. While challenges with tax and GST laws persist, we are representing these concerns to the government.

How can CAs adopt AI, ML and digital tools in auditing?

Last year, we revised our syllabus to include essential subjects such as AI, ML and Python at the final level. This shows our commitment to embracing technology. If you are not up-todate with AI, survival in the field will be challenging. AI will not replace professionals, but those proficient in AI will replace those who are not. Our institute has formed a new committee called “AI in ICAI” to integrate AI within our organisation. We provide our 9,00,000 students with study materials and RTPs through a new tool called ICAI GPT. This tool allows students to quickly access information and is available free of cost.