Several industries in Gujarat and other parts of the country are planning to adopt the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), a top industry official said.

"About 180 industries attended a two-day workshop on IFRS hosted by the Baroda branch of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) held in the city recently," ICAI Baroda branch (Western India Regional Council) Chairman Ashok Thakkar told media.

IFRS are standards and interpretations adopted by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

"The significance of IFRS increased after the European Union (EU) made it mandatory for all its listed companies starting 2005. Consequently, more than 8,000 listed companies in the EU adopted the IFRS," ICAI WIRC Vice-Chairman Atul Parikh said.

Hence, ICAI has proposed a plan for convergence with IFRS for certain defined entities including banks with effect from April 1, 2011, Thakkar said.

India's blue chip companies like Wipro, Infosys and NIIT, automakers like Mahindra and Tata Motors, textile companies like Bombay Dyeing and pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories have begun to align their accounting standards to IFRS, three years ahead of the mandatory time for the switch over, Parikh said.

ICAI President Ved Jain said that in the age of globalisation India cannot insulate itself from developments taking place worldwide and it is imperative for us to make a formal strategy for convergence with IFRS to harmonise with accounting standards accepted worldwide.