The Institute of Chartered Accountants in India (ICAI) has decided to start classroom training for it's students across the country. The institute is planning to introduce classes on their premises across the country for providing better facilities to students, ICAI's top authorities said during a visit to the city.

"We have decided to start classroom teaching for our students. We will cover most of our centres next year. The classroom training will be of three months wherein the students will be given quality training," said ICAI president Uttam Prakash Agrawal.

Once the project starts full-fledged, ICAI will be able to train 50,000 students on daily basis. "CA students attend private coaching classes and spend lot on fees. We charge much less for training classes and provide good education. However, at present, this facility is only available in Mumbai," Agrawal added.

Agrawal was in the city to inaugurate the new ICAI Bhavan constructed by the institute's Vadodara branch. The new building is spread over 17,000 square-feet and has a state-of-art auditorium that can house about 250 people. The building equipped with CCTVs cost ICAI over Rs 4.5 crore. "The building was made in a record time of eight months and 18 days. It's one of the best buildings among all our centres in the country," chairman of Baroda branch of ICAI, Abhishek Nagori said.

ICAI has also been giving training to government authorities and other officials for reading balance-sheets and handling other account works. Elaborating on their projects abroad, Agrawal said, "We have already entered into a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) with Canada, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. Now, we are helping eight countries in Gulf to set up their own institutes of chartered accountancy. We are providing them all the technological know-how."

"We have signed a memorandum of understanding with these countries and our people will be leaving shortly for Gulf countries to make the CA course professional there," Agrawal added.