Govt should encourage cos to adopt IFRS: Pai

The government should encourage corporates to get their accounts audited as per the international norms to give a positive signal to the overseas investors, Infosys Director Mohandas Pai said today.

"We will request the government to ask the bigger firms (to advance the implementation of IFRS by a year)...It's good for Indian companies and it will send a very positive message to the global investors," Pai, who is also a trustee of the international accounting body IASC Foundation, said.

The IASC Foundation oversees the working of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Although India proposes to switch over to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by 2011, he said, the process should be expedited by asking the large companies to adopt the norms earlier.

The Indian government had announced its commitment to converge the Indian accounting standards with IFRS by April 2011. The move is intended to promote the interests of the Indian entities having their presence in European Union (EU).

Pai had met Corporate Affairs Minister Prem Chand Gupta days after the Satyam accounting fraud hit the Indian corporate world.