Chairperson of Competition Commission of India Dhanendra Kumar said on Thursday that competition and accounting standards were certainly linked to each other and discussions on this front were the need of the hour.
He was speaking at a three-day first international conference on accounting and finance organised by the T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), here.
Mr. Kumar said accounting standards would be critical for companies in India and abroad in the present global environment. An in-depth knowledge on accounting standards and competition was required.
The Union Government had brought it in the Competition Act, which emphasised on fairness, innovation and healthy competitive agreements in the market. During mergers and acquisitions, the process by which a company took over and controlled another company, there had to be a merger of accounting standards as well.
He said that transparency was the best policy with commitment to ethical values and competitiveness.
Strategic accounting led to better governance and gave a direction to the company. It was important for the Government that fair competition was brought in. The public firms were now on par with the private firms. He emphasised the importance of Government's involvement as a facilitator in order to have healthy competition.
The Union Government was insistent on having transparency without any cartel between the firms. Conferences such as the present one would were the first step for the future managers on enhancing their knowledge about finance and accounting, Mr. Kumar said.
In his presidential address, Pro Chancellor of Manipal University H.S. Ballal said budding managers should realise that commitment, transparency and competence were absolutely necessary for good governance.
In her introductory remarks, Conference Co-chairperson Vrishali Bhat said over 100 research papers were received from delegates from different parts of the world and 46 papers were to be presented in the next two days.
Director of TAPMI Saji Gopinath welcomed the gathering. Conference Co-chairperson Rajiv Shah proposed a vote of thanks. Dean (Academics) Simon George was present.
