• ●Corporate Mitra's first batch opened with 2,879 registered learners; the course was launched at the ICAI head office, New Delhi.
• ●Announced in the Union Budget 2026-27 and run under the guidance of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
• ●Objective: a cadre of trained, certified paraprofessionals giving Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises affordable support on business and regulatory compliance.
• ●Delivered jointly by ICAI, ICSI and ICoAI, with technology and academic support from IIT Madras, IIT Madras Pravartak and SWAYAM Plus.
• ●Structure: 12 months in two stages — six months of about 150 hours of recorded academic lectures, then six months of on-the-job training in member firms of the three institutes.
• ●All three institutes are statutory bodies under MCA's administrative control: ICAI (Chartered Accountants Act, 1949), ICSI (Company Secretaries Act, 1980) and ICoAI (Cost and Works Accountants Act, 1959).
• ●Per MCA's scheme documents, entry is open to Indian nationals up to 30 years who are graduates or final-year students, at a fee of Rs 3,000 plus GST, halved for women and for candidates from the North-East, Himalayan regions, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
• ●The compliance framework the course teaches is the Companies Act, 2013, administered by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Which initiative, announced in the Union Budget 2026-27, trains certified paraprofessionals to help MSMEs manage their business and regulatory compliance?