I had 1200hrs when I did the CRI and still felt I was not really in a position to offer the best to students. I had over 2000hrs when I did the FI course a decade ago.
An FI may get the rating in less hours however the FI is a way more demanding course than a CRI and although I still don't think minimum hours FI's have anything to offer either you should not confuse the training between the two.