Chartered accountants (CAs) were offered an average salary of around Rs 7.36 lakh a year in the latest campus placement programme conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), with the highest pay reaching Rs 24.64 lakh.
The institute has been conducting campus placement programmes twice a year in 15 locations in the country, K. Raghu, vice-president, ICAI, told reporters here on Thursday on the sidelines of a conference of the Southern Indian Regional Council of the ICAI.
The first campus placement programme was organised during February-March this year, and the second during August-September. The highest salary offered for domestic postings during the August-September round was Rs 20 lakh a year , and for international posting, it was Rs 24.64 lakh.
On an average, the students were offered Rs 7.36 lakh a year.
The ICAI had shortlisted around 2,700 candidates for the campus placement programme during August-September. For the benefit of CA students, the institute is setting up 100 reading rooms in various parts of the country. Already, 25 such reading rooms have been set up and around 10 lakh students are now part of the ICAI, Raghu said.
To provide a direct entry scheme to the CA course, the ICAI has decided to allow B.Sc and BA students with average 60 per cent of marks to join the programme. The average mark in the case of B.Com graduates is 55 per cent. The response for this scheme is good, he said.
Terming the CA course an affordable one, Raghu said a student had to spend around Rs 25,000 for three years. More and more women are seeking entry into the CA course these days, he added.The ICAI will launch a knowledge management portal for the benefit of its members and public in two months. The portal will provide all knowledge resources of the ICAI at one place, he said.
Initiatives have been taken to provide the resources through the portal on the handheld devices, and apps for this portal will also be launched, Raghu added.