The impact of IFRS convergence on key financial indicators of Public Sector Undertakings listed in NSE, India

The study investigates the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards convergence (IFRS) on the key financial ratios and balance sheet figures of public sector units listed in India (adopted IFRS first time in 2016-2017). The study used purposive sampling and selected 18 Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) grouped under the first phase of mandatory adoption in 2016-2017. The study employed the paired T-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test to test the significant median differences. The analysis is done in three parts; first, key ratios are compared to identify the significant difference between Indian (GAAP) and Indian (AS). Second, absolute figures from the financial statements were also compared, and lastly compared both outcomes to detect the differences. The findings revealed that a statistically significant impact of convergence to Ind AS is on Total Assets, Total Liabilities, and Tangibles. In contrast, in the case of all the other absolute figures like PAT, TCI, and, more importantly, Equity, the impact of convergence is not statistically significant. The originality of the paper lies in measuring the impact of mandatory adoption of Ind AS on PSUs in India.