The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh today inaugurated the new campus of Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs Campus in Manesar, Haryana. Speaking on the occasion he termed the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs has been conceived as a think-tank and research institute in the area of corporate law and allied disciplines, and also as a training organization for officers of the Indian Company Law Service. Complimenting the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for this very important initiativehe expressed confidence for the institute to live up to the expectations with its setting up.
Dr. Manmohan Singh stressed upon the need of periodical review of Corporate laws and amendments effected. He said New thinking is required in important areas such as investor education and protection, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and competition law. The tremendous potential of MCA-21, the e-governance initiative of the Ministry, needs to be fully exploited. Also, in view of the increasing importance of small unlisted companies and new formats such as limited liability partnerships, the Ministry needs to develop new oversight structures and enabling frameworks.
He said the last two decades being times of great change for our country as our economy has grown at unprecedented high rates and the corporate sector has been one of the major drivers of this high economic growth. He referred to the growth of registered companies from about 30 thousand in 1956, the year in which the Companies Act came into force to having about 9 lakh companies on the rolls of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs today and said it must be our continuous endeavor to provide our companies a non-cumbersome, customer friendly and transparent regulatory environment to enable them to function efficiently and productively, to contribute to our economic development and also to fulfill their social obligations. Dr. Singh expected from the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs to fulfill this role and be of benefit to the corporate sector, the micro, small and medium enterprises, professional bodies such as Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute of Cost Accountants of India and Institute of Company Secretaries of India, investors and depositors, trade bodies, and domestic and international educational and professional institutes.
Dr. Manmohan singh said his government stands committed to providing an environment which is conducive to enterprise and growth of entrepreneurship, an environment which will facilitate rapid economic growth and higher living standards. We are committed to having a regulatory and policy environment which will unleash the creative energies of our people and will fulfill the expectations of our founding fathers of our republic. We must adjust our systems, rules, procedures and processes of administration to meet the needs that would arise in the years to come. He also complemented the Union Corporate affairs Minister Dr. M. Veerappa Moily on the setting-up of the National Corporate Social Responsibility Foundation, as a division within the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs. This would help our country to take a leadership position in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility. He also referred to The Companies Bill, presently under consideration of Parliament and said IT seeks to provide a further fillip to the cause of Corporate Social Responsibility, corporate governance and investor protection. He expressed the hope the passing of this bill shortly.
Earlier Welcoming the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh , Union Corporate Affairs Minister Dr. M. Veerappa Moily said with the liberalization of the economy and the resultant influx of both technology and investment, enthusiasm in terms of business confidence, buoyant economy, increasing business investments and enhanced global presence are palpably visible. Different inputs therefore, are required to address the changing needs of the corporate sector.
Global opportunities generating capital, technology, finance and expertise are no longer limited- several alliances have been forged between Indian companies and their foreign counterparts, while venture capital and private equity have experienced significant changes. All these changes have come about as a result of enabling regulatory frameworks which facilitate the corporate sector to function productively and responsibly.
The next major challenge is the adequate capacity building at all levels of corporate governance. Setting up of IICA is a step in that direction. He said IICA is first of its kind anywhere in the world Institute has been designed to function as a holistic, capacity-building institution and a think-tank for corporate regulation and reform, through synergized knowledge-creation and management, global partnerships and real time solutions. The IICA is expected to undertake research, consultancy, incubation and problem-solving to enable innovative solutions. It will aim to foster inclusive growth and entrepreneurial excellence with a focus on ethical business practices.
The Minister said in order to become a globally recognised front-runner in matters related to corporate affairs, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has imparted to the IICA, a well-thought-out organisation structure which includes a network of six schools – the Centers of Excellence and Forums which will pertain to the areas of Corporate Law, Competition Law, Corporate Finance, Business Environment, Corporate Governance and the ICLS Academy. We are also planning to introduce degree / post graduate academic programmes on these subjects shortly. Also, training and development is expected to be another major area of activity for each IICA School. Thus, the IICA will offer education and training to working professionals both in the Government and the private sector. The Institute will be in a position to be considered as benchmark by the corporate sector for their organizational capacity building needs. He said Certification will be a major priority for the IICA as well as a significant potential source of revenue. The strategy will be to create certification of choice that becomes the gold standard for the country.
The Minister said the Institute has facility to impart induction level and in-service training to officers of the Indian Corporate Law Service. It will be our endeavour to upgrade it to the status of National Academies of other Group A Services. He said the role of Corporate Social Responsibility has become all the more relevant hence the National Foundation for CSR has just been established within the IICA. The overall mission of the Foundation is to help in creating a national platform for the Corporate Sector to work in partnership with Government, Non-Governmental and Civil Society Organisations to advocate and capture issues that lead to inclusive growth and sustainable development. Also
The IICA has been asked to take pro-active and immediate steps to ensure the recruitment of the leadership and support staff for each of these Schools. We will be completing these recruitments over the next 6 months time. He said the IICA is poised to begin its activities in right earnest. The mandate of establishing a world class Institute is paramount in our vision and strategy. We will create the platform to build a scalable and high-quality institution which will set a bench mark for the rest of the world.
The Haryana Chief Minister Shri Bhupinder Singh Hudda also spoke on the Occasion. Those present on this occasion included Shri R P N Singh, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas; Shri Naved Masood, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs; Dr Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs and a number of other dignitories.
