Layer 1: Ind AS (the accounting language). Indian Accounting Standards are notified under the Companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Rules 2015. They're IFRS-converged, which is a different thing from IFRS-adopted. The numbering mirrors IFRS (Ind AS 115 is IFRS 15, Ind AS 116 is IFRS 16), but India made deliberate carve-outs. Applicability arrived in phases: FY17 for listed and large companies, FY18 for all listed companies plus unlisted ones with net worth ≥₹250 crore, and FY19–20 for NBFCs. Two exceptions still stand. Scheduled commercial banks still report under old Indian GAAP, because RBI has deferred Ind AS for banks indefinitely (as of mid-2026). Insurers follow IRDAI's timeline, with Ind AS 117 adoption planned ~FY27. So in the banks module, bank statements will look older. They provision by RBI prudential norms, and ECL arrives only when RBI's ECL provisioning directions for banks (issued April 2026) apply from 1 April 2027, still under Indian GAAP.
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These are the Ind AS and IFRS differences worth knowing. You met the first one on the purchase price allocation page:
- Bargain purchase in a business combination. IFRS 3 books the gain in P&L, but Ind AS 103 routes it through OCI into a capital reserve, or straight to capital reserve if the bargain lacks clear evidence. India refused to let "profit from buying cheap" inflate earnings.
- FCCB conversion options. Under IAS 32's fixed-for-fixed rule, an option to convert a foreign-currency bond into shares is a derivative liability, at fair value through P&L. Ind AS 32 carves this out and treats it as equity, which spares Indian issuers P&L volatility from their own convertibles.
- Lease straight-lining. Under Ind AS, rent escalations that merely track expected general inflation need not be straight-lined, and the carve-out was retained into Ind AS 116. IFRS straight-lines regardless.
- First-time adoption reliefs (Ind AS 101), including the option to continue capitalizing FX differences on legacy long-term foreign-currency monetary items (the old "para 46A" policy).
Can you treat Ind AS as the same as IFRS?
As an analyst, assume Ind AS ≈ IFRS. When a group reports under both, as Infosys does with an Indian AR plus a 20-F, skim the reconciliation once. Differences are usually small, and the exercise is free education.