BCAS President CA Anand Bathiya’s Message for the Month of July 2025

July, the seventh month of the year named after Julius Caesar, is on average the warmest month in the northern hemisphere and the coldest month in most parts of the southern hemisphere. This month holds significant importance for our profession and our Society. We commemorate CA Day in July and also celebrate the founding day of our Society during this month.

It also signifies the beginning of the busy assurance and compliance season, as well as the transition of BCAS leadership with the commencement of the new academic year at our Society. The BCAS leadership model functions similarly to a ‘relay marathon’, where each year the leadership baton is passed forward to continue to expand the scope, reach, depth and prestige of BCAS.

It is my honour to announce CA Zubin Billimoria as the President and CA Kinjal Shah as the Vice President of our Society for the academic year 2025-26. Zubinbhai, a seasoned professional who has been associated with BCAS for many years, brings immense energy, leadership, and meticulousness to our Society. Kinjalbhai, a technology-savvy administrator and detail-oriented professional, has volunteered at BCAS for over two decades, contributing fresh ideas and initiatives.

Alongside them, CA Mandar Telang, CA Kinjal Bhuta, and CA Mrinal Mehta form a well-rounded team of office-bearers who are prepared to continue advancing the ‘1^st 5-year Strategic Plan’ into its third year of implementation.

Over the past year, whilst we consistently propagated high-quality learning, advocacy and professional development, our Society has undertaken various new initiatives aligned with the six pillars under the 1^st 5-year Strategic Plan, aimed at addressing the needs of our community and fostering professional development.

1. Reach

•  Membership growth: Your Society has significantly enhanced its reach by increasing its membership and subscribership to an all-time high of 11,650 members and subscribers, thanks to Project ‘Mount 11,000’ and other membership-focused initiatives.
• Audience expansion: Non-member participation in events, access to self-paced online courses, and social media followers hit record highs: 70,000+ followers, 800+ YouTube videos crossing 1.1 million views.
• Media presence: 200+ mentions across print, radio, television, podcasts, and articles—boosting BCAS’s visibility and engagement.
• Local engagement: Enhanced reach with strengthening of the ‘Sherpa’ initiative by conducting events and town halls outside Bombay (Coimbatore, Kolkata and Hyderabad).
• Global outreach: First joint webinar with the American Accounting Association on ESG, webinar with Oman officials and UN Tax Cooperation conference participation.
• WhatsApp engagement: WhatsApp chatbot and WhatsApp channel launched with 2,200+ subscribers, enabling non-intrusive yet quick dissemination of information and updates.
• Publications distribution through flipkart.com: BCAS secured ISBNs for all its publications and began distributing through Flipkart.com.

2. Professional Development

• Member survey: Started the academic year with a membership survey, which guided focus for this year’s programming based on this member feedback.
• Lecture series: Held 16 (sixteen) open-access lectures, resulting in 50,000+ additional YouTube views.
• Publications: Released new/updated editions (‘Laws & Business, ‘Gita for Professionals’, ‘Thought-Mailer compilation’, etc.) in addition to BCAS Referencer, BCAS Diary and BCA Journal.
• BCAS Academy: Launched a digital learning and networking platform offering courses, journals, forums, and resources. BCAS Academy promises to change the way our community consumes BCAS content and can go a long way in enhancing the breadth and reach of our Society.
• Innovative pedagogy: Introduced contemporary topics such as AIFs, AI, ESG, supply-chain, geopolitics and more; DTAA course celebrated its 25th year.
• Journal reach: Expanded BCAS Journal’s audience significantly through targeted efforts, adding many new subscribers.
• Digital credentials: Introduced e-certification for BCAS certificate courses with verifiable digital badges.
• Podcast & self-paced content: Conducted various Podcasts, self-paced content-series like ‘Are You Aware,’ ‘GST Bytes,’ and ‘Tax Gurucool’.
• Guest lectures & training for managing committee and staff: Hosted experts and organised staff workshops on AI, yoga, management, etc. for the managing committee and BCAS staff.
• Communication improvements: Standardised BCAS namestyle and bi-monthly updates through ‘BCAS Broadcast newsletter; office premises branding refurbished.

3. Networking

• MOU with IIM-M: During the year, we entered into a research-focussed MoU with IIM-M to enhance the academia-professional engagement.
• MOU with NISM: During the year, we entered into a capability-development MoU with NISM to build enhanced skill-sets on avenues connected with securities markets.
• MOU with BIA: We entered into an industry-professional MOU with Bombay Industries Association and further built-upon our existing arrangements with IMC, CTC, WIRC, GSTPAM, MCTC and others.
• CA‑Thon marathon: BCAS powered India’s first “run‑for‑cause” CA marathon with 1,600+ participants; supported women’s economic empowerment.
• Cricket tournament: First BCAS Turf Cricket Tournament in January 2025 with wide CA participation.

4. Advocacy

• Research: Published blue-sky research paper on ‘group taxation’ in collaboration with IIM Mumbai; to be shared with policymakers.
• Regulatory engagement: Interacted with multiple regulators, including NFRA, ICAI, RBI, SEBI, CBEC, IFSCA, IBBI, CBDT and others.
• Representations: Provided feedback on various regulatory changes, e.g. Budget 2024, ITR utility, FEMA drafts, SA 600 revisions, fraud reporting guidelines, overseas networking guidelines, etc.
• Parliamentary input: Presented recommendations on the Income Tax Bill, 2025, to the Parliamentary Select Committee.
• Policy roundtables: Hosted “Viksit Bharat” and “Profession @ 2047” discussions; curated a SEBI AIF white paper to be presented to the securities market regulator.
• Niti Aayog collaboration: Partnered to perform a focused research on tax policy reforms with Niti Aayog through its Consultative Group on Tax Policy.

5. Yuva Shakti

• Younger members: Notable increase from under‑35 members; BCAS managing committee average age is 42 years.
• Student platform: A for-by-of Students platform, aka, ‘BCAS Nxt’ launched with bootcamps conducted for CA students.
• Tarang 2025: Student festival with ~350 participants, showcasing diverse skills concluded with zeal, enthusiasm and camaraderie.
• Mentoring programs: CAMBA and आDaan‑Daan mentoring expanded across 20+ locations, including reverse mentoring.
• Endowment fund: Shri P. N. Shah CA Students’ Endowment Fund established a ₹5 million corpus for financial aid to needy CA students.

6. Chartereds for Change

• Environmental projects: Planted 200+ native saplings in Mumbai (Miyawaki Forest) with BCAS Foundation partners.
• Educational support: Modernised MM High School in Gujarat with e-classrooms, labs, library, and upcoming sports infrastructure.
• Inspirational publications: Released 4 (four) books, including Gita for Professionals 7th Edition and a Thought Mailers compilation.
• BCAS Foundation initiatives: Carried out e-learning, blood drives, tree-planting, sewing-machine donations, and collaborated on social causes.
• Solar support: Installed solar power at Vraj Hostel via Sparsh Foundation for sustainable benefit.

Year after year, our Society has flourished and expanded its influence and contributions due to its strong ethical foundation and the dedicated efforts of its selfless volunteers. I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to the selfless volunteers of the BCAS Core Group, who uphold the values and principles of BCAS with utmost integrity. I also express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to Dr CA Mayur Nayak, editor of the BCAJ, for his invaluable contribution to the BCAJ and our community over the last many years.

To celebrate our founding legacy, we will have the privilege of hearing valuable insights from our distinguished guests: (i) Shri Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Chairperson of SEBI, and (ii) Shri Nithin Kamath, Founder and CEO of Zerodha.

As we end another year of selfless contribution, a reflection of true ‘success’ in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson guides us:

“To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded”

Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to serve you and our community.