Coimbatore branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) plans to develop a knowledge centre here.

G. Ramaswamy, Central Council Member of the Institute, told The Hindu that a new building of the branch was coming up at Thudiyalur on a 65-cent plot and it would be completed in a year. The Coimbatore centre had about 3,000 students and the new building would house a coaching centre for students and have training facilities, Mr. Ramaswamy said.

Training could be imparted in emerging areas such as information technology, management and communications. The centre would benefit chartered accountants from the neighbouring towns too. The institute would invest about Rs. 4.5 crore (in total) to establish the centre and it would be called the Temple of Knowledge, he said. This would also benefit the chartered accountants here as a number of them were now going to other centres of excellence for various training programmes. Mr. Ramaswamy added that the institute entered into an agreement with Bharathiar University nearly six months ago.

This was especially for the benefit of CA students and chartered accountants who were interested in doing B.Com, BBA, M.Com or MBA programmes.

This is also an opportunity for those interested in a doctorate, he said.

The institute had entered into agreements with select universities in other parts of the country too, he said.