In accordance with the announcement in the Budget Speech 2014-15, the Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS), based on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), will be notified for voluntary adoption from the financial year 2015-16 and mandatorily from financial year 2016-17. Banks, Financial Institutions and Insurance Companies may be brought under the purview of the standards at a later date. The class of companies to which these standards will apply are being finalised and would be notified alongwith the Ind-AS.

This was stated by Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister of Corporate Affairs in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

New accounting standards adoption: phased voluntary then mandatory application, with later inclusion possible for banks and insurers. Implementation of Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS) will proceed in two phases - voluntary adoption in the first notified year and mandatory adoption in the following year - with finalisation and notification of the classes of companies to be covered. Banks, financial institutions and insurance companies are excluded from the initial application and may be included later; the notification process will specify scope and effective application.