Hyderabad : 56th National Cost Convention 2015 with a theme “Powering Economic Growth Through Cost & Management Accounting” kicked off here in city to aat Shilpakala Vediaka at Madhapur.

Union  Minister of State for Labour and employment Bandaru Dattatreya and  Minister of State for Science and Technology & Earth Science, Government of India Shri Y S Chowdary inaugurated the two day meet and addressed the gathering.

Padma Bhushan Dr. M B Athreya, Management Consultant delivered the Key Note address.  Dr. A.S. Durga Prasada, National President of The Institute of Cost Accountants of India(ICAI); P.V. Bhattad, Vice President; J. Padmanabhan, DLS Sreshti and Radha Krishna, local Chapter Chairman among other participated in the inaugural function. 1200 delegates from across India are taking part in the two day conference, which is being held second time in city.

Speaking on the occasion immediately after the inauguration Y.S. Chowdary said present Government in the Central has got absolute majority and is now the most stable government after the gap of 30years.  It got absolute majority because of youth who played a vital role in bringing BJP in to power.  Nearly 10 million youth are joining job market every year.  CMA must play an important role in shaping up of India’s youth. Profession of Cost Accountant is not merely a profession, but, there is lot of social responsibility he said.  Science and Technology plays a great role in Make in India Program, he informed. In making Make in India program success, Cost Accountants can play a huge role.

Skills are very important in very field.  Our ministry steady revealed that two categories of people require skill training. One is politicians and 2 is farmers.  Farmers need to know cost accountancy.  They never calculate value of the land, their salary as the investment.  So cost accountancy is required to farmers he said.  So we need to educate farmers on the same.

Speaking further Y.S Chowdary told Indians to get into original inventions.  Imitations and Copying doesn’t work he said.  Indians need to produce their own inventions.

In India people are not coming forward to take risks, are not getting in entrepreneurship.  They must cultivate risk taking ability.  Government has limitations. We cant print currency, inject subsidies.  Government main job is to give proper governance.  People too have equal role to play in getting that governance from the government.

Speaking about Smart Cities Y.S. Chowdary said there is a lot of buzz going on around Smart Cities. But, what we need is Desi Smart Cities, not imported Smart Cities. We need Indianized Smart Cities that address real issues of the public.  And concluded his speech by saying time has come for country to come for cooperation, coordination rather than competition and confrontation.

Addressing the gathering Bandaru Dattatreya said power of Economic Growth lies in our resources.  Our resources are Agriculture, Water, Mining and many other.  Competitiveness is very important. Without cost control and management, you can not have competitiveness, he said.  The initial project costs of Hyderabad Metro, Polarvaram and many projects risen many times due to delay. So whatever you Cost Accountants to, it must reduce cost.  Cost factor is important. Unless this is done, Make in India and Skill India have no value, Badaru Dattatreya said.

India can provide employment to many  crores of  people by imparting vocational skills and  training.  We need important vocational skill training. Our ITIs must reach level of IIMs.

Talking about the Apprentices (Amendment) bill passed recently by the Indian Parliament, Dattatreya informed that in India we are providing training to 2.8 lakh people.  Which is when compared to ther coutries… Germany (30 lakhs), Japan (1 crore) and in China (2 crore) is very low he said.

Addressing the gathering Dr. A.S. Durga Prasad, National President of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India informed that the convention will deliberate

•          Grow in India; Grow India – Nature, Science and Welfare Economics of Food Supply Chain

•          Build India, Efficient & Self Sufficient Infrastructure

•          Make India; Intelligent, Inviting

•          Make in India – Make it Excellent

•          Consciously Clean; Cleaning the Mess

The Conference will provide a forum for thoughtful discussions on the topics of relevance in today’s business and economic context. There will be various technical sessions during two days Conference which shall be addressed by eminent personalities from Government Sector, Industry, academics and Practitioners etc.

Dr. Durga Prasad informed that the institute is actively collaborating with Government, Industry, and Academic institutions to undertake studies, research and proposes to issue industry specific guidance notes on Risk Management, Performance management, Internal Audit, Cost and Management Accounting. The Institute is currently conducting cost research studies for Indian Railways, Ports, Health Sector, Education Sector, Power Sector, Coal Sector, Banking & Financial Sector etc. The Institute is organizing chain seminars on Indirect Taxation, Internal Audit, Cost Accounting Standards, Cost Audit and Assurance Standards, Corporate Governance, and Companies Act 2013 across the country for capacity building.

He explained the transformation of Accountant in general and Cost Accountant in specific, on book keeping, Cost Records upkeep for Brick & Mortars to today’s Cost & Management Accountant providing Analytical Multi-Dimensional reporting facilitating management decisions. Not limiting to this, today’s CMAs have scaled up to highest positions, in Government, Banking Sectors and most importantly, the Business Analyst roles of IT Companies, the current highest business generating sector.

The inaugural witness two important MOUs with CIMA and TCS for the benefit of students and members. The Chief Guests  released the publications on Education, Health and Internal Audit Sectors.

Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu will address the gathering tomorrow.