Lok Sabha Question No. 2502 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-18
Subject: Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs
Ministry: CORPORATE AFFAIRS
Asked by: Anil Firojiya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2502

## ANSWERED ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2023/AGRAHAYANA 27, 1945 (Saka) INDIAN INSTITUTE OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS QUESTION

2502. SHRI ANIL FIROJIYA:

Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  Indian  Institute  of  Corporate  Affairs  is  doing  any  work  to  promote corporate governance in India;
- (b) if so, the type of the said work along with the details thereof;
- (c) whether any scheme is being prepared to empower the corporate sector and women entrepreneurs through various training programmes; and
- (d) if so, the details in this regard?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF

CORPORATE AFFAIRS.

(RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

(a) to (d): Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) through its School of Corporate Governance & Public Policy is engaged in strengthening of corporate governance in India. In addition, IICA offers specialised and focused courses on corporate finance, valuations,  mediations  and  Alternate  Dispute  Resolution  (ADR),  Corporate  Social Responsibility (CSR), Environment-Social-Governance (ESG),Business & Human Rights (BHR), Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Corporate and Business laws through its  School  of  Finance,  School  of  Business  Environment,  School  of  Corporate  Law, Centre for Insolvency and Bankruptcy. All these courses and programs contribute to the corporate sector in strengthening of their corporate governance practices.

The broad areas of engagement of the Institution and its schools can be categorised in the following action points:

- Research Studies on contemporary aspects of corporate governance
- Advocacy campaigns and initiatives for corporate sector on evolving regulatory framework and best practices
- Short  term  Capacity  Building  programmes  targeted  towards  the  corporate governance professionals
- Long  term  virtual  courses  for  capacity  building  of  corporate  governance professionals

IICA also conducts the following programmes/activities:

## i) Capacity Building Programmes

- Familiarization programme for Independent Directors
- Master Class for Building Better Boards
- Long term Certificate Course in Corporate Governance
- Long term Certificate Course for Start Up Boards
- Long term Certificate Course in Valuation
- Long term Certificate Course in CSR
- Long term Certificate Course in ESG and Sustainability
- Orientation &  Learning  Summit  for  Independent  Directors  /  Non-Official Directors of CPSEs (Central Public Sector Enterprises)
- Orientation Program for the Government Nominee Directors on CPSE Boards
- Company specific training programmes for Middle / Senior Level Executives
- Compliance course for executives of foreign companies working in India
- Post Graduate program in Insolvency and Bankruptcy
- Short Term Course on Enterprise Risk Management

## ii) Advocacy Initiatives for Corporate Sector

IICA  is  engaged  in  advocacy  on  evolving  regulatory  framework  on  corporate governance and corporate affairs while covering Companies Act 2013, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Provisions, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Competition Act and the best practices for the benefit of corporate sector and its professionals. The Institute also advocates practices on CSR, ESG and BHR related adoption and integration in corporate practices.

## iii) Research Activities

IICA engages with the corporate sector for identification of the areas for research on various  contemporary  aspects  of  corporate  affairs  and  governance.  A  number  of studies  have  been  conducted  in  the  areas  of  corporate  governance,  role  of Independent Directors, Insolvency and bankruptcy, competition and market regulation, CSR and ESG. IICA has also published study material on these areas which is used in short as well as long term courses. Additionally, the institute has published books in the areas of Corporate Governance, ESG and CSR.

IICA has taken a number of initiatives for empowering the corporate sector in the domain of Corporate Affairs . A National initiative on Independent Director's Databank is one such initiative that has been launched in 2019 with corresponding provisions in the Companies Act 2013.

This initiative has been taken for creating a repository of all the Independent Directors working on the public and private sector boards of Indian Companies. It also provides a  platform  to  large  number  of  professionals  who  aspire  to  serve  as  Independent Directors  in  the  Indian  companies.  Through  this  databank,  IICA  also  promotes  the women professionals who wish to assume the leadership roles on corporate boards.

As on 11.12.2023, a total of 25,132 Independent Directors and aspiring professionals are  registered  with  the  databank  out  of  which  7,269  are  the  women  directors  or accomplished women professionals who wish to serve the corporate boards. In order to provide them with the requisite opportunities a total of 3,046 companies are also registered  with  the  databank  to  search  their  profiles  and  select  the  suitable candidates. For the capacity building of the registered members, the institute has provided access to  49  e-Learning  courses  in  addition  to  monthly  e-newsletter  and  other  knowledge resources  for  keeping  them  abreast  with  the  board  related  regulatory  framework, practice aspects and also the best practices. The members can also understand their learning progress by attempting an online proficiency self assessment test which acts as a progress tracker.

********