ICAI launches ‘Project Vanijya’ to strengthen India’s economic foundations through early commerce education
December 22, 2025
The launch meeting focused on aligning commerce education with NEP 2020 to make it early, experiential, AI-enabled and industry-relevant while equipping students with essential economic and life skills
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), through its Committee on Career Counselling (CCC), has launched 'Project Vanijya – Shaping the Future of Students for Bharat as a Developed Country', an initiative aimed at strengthening commerce education from the early stages of schooling.
The Project Vanijya was launched on December 19, 2025, in New Delhi during a national-level deliberation that saw active participation from senior leaders and representatives of education boards from 17 states across the country. The event was graced by Charanjot Singh Nanda, president, ICAI; Prasanna Kumar D, vice-president, ICAI,CA; Durgesh Kumar Kabra, chairman, Committee on Career Counselling, ICAI and Pankaj Shah, vice-chairman, Committee on Career Counselling, ICAI, along with Central Council Members and Jai Kumar Batra, secretary, ICAI.
The launch meeting served as a common platform for education leaders to deliberate on strengthening commerce education in schools. Discussions focused on integrating the principles of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 into commerce curricula, preparing future-ready talent for emerging business and commerce roles, leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance teaching, learning and evaluation processes, and making commerce education more hands-on, experiential and aligned with industry needs. Participants also emphasised the importance of introducing commerce concepts at an early stage to build a strong economic foundation and equip students with essential life skills such as budgeting, saving, decision-making, teamwork and ethical conduct.
During the discussions, several State Education Board leaders proposed the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with ICAI to formally collaborate on introducing and strengthening commerce education at the school level under Project Vanijya. The proposed partnerships aim to ensure structured implementation, curriculum support, teacher orientation, and long-term sustainability of the initiative.
Speaking on the occasion, Charanjot Singh Nanda, president, ICAI, said, “The Project Vanijya has been conceptualised to play a pivotal role in India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation by 2047 by nurturing financial literacy, business awareness and an entrepreneurial mindset among students from class VI onwards. The initiative aims to empower young learners with early exposure to commerce, trade, banking, money management, taxation and ethical business practices, making education more practical, relevant and future-oriented. It is aligned with NEP 2020, which emphasises holistic, multidisciplinary, skill-based and experiential learning to prepare students for the demands of the 21st-century workforce.”
[The Times of India]
