 "Why India is considering its own 'Big Four' accountancy firms")
India is mulling its own ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms. Currently, Deloitte, PwC or PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young (EY), and KPMG dominate the professional services industry globally. The Big Four, along with Grant Thornton and BDO, also govern India’s audit environment.
Now, the Central government is exploring the feasibility of creating large domestic consulting firms similar to the Big Four. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is reportedly holding a meeting today (June 6) to discuss the proposal.
Let’s take a closer look.
PMO’s key meeting
On Thursday, the PMO called a meeting to deliberate on the possibility of developing homegrown accountancy firms equivalent to the Big Four, as per a Moneycontrol report.
The key meeting will be headed by
Shaktikanta Das, principal secretary to the Prime Minister.
Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), is slated to give a presentation to analyse the feasibility and draw a blueprint for establishing Indian consulting firms with global credibility.
“Das will hold a meeting on ‘Can India build big-4 consulting firms’. There will be a presentation by Sanyal. Secretaries of economic affairs Ajay Seth, corporate affairs Deepti Mukherjee, revenue Arvind Shrivastava, and financial services M Nagaraju are also likely to attend the high-level meeting,” one of the sources told Moneycontrol.
They are likely to discuss regulatory changes and other policy interventions required for the expansion of domestic accounting firms and to increase their competitiveness.
What’s the aim behind it?
The Indian government is trying to reduce dependence on foreign advisory firms and build globally competitive names in the professional services industry.
The affiliates of Big Four, along with Grant Thornton and BDO, have handled assignments of 326 of the 486 Nifty-500 companies as of March 2025, as per a primeinfobase.com report.
Impact Shorts
View AllThe Indian arms of the Big Four posted a combined revenue of Rs 38,800 crore in the financial year 24. This could further exceed Rs 45,000 crore in FY25.
“These firms have become deeply embedded in the functioning of government and PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings). The next logical step is to explore whether India can create its own champions in this space,” the source cited above told Moneycontrol.
India’s large homegrown consultancy firms would help it avoid overdependence on global players. “This isn’t just about creating competition to the Big Four. It’s about recognising consulting as an important industry,” sources said.
Speaking to Deccan Herald (DH) recently, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) President CA Charanjot Singh Nanda highlighted the steps taken to develop a big accounting firm to match up with the Big Four.
“To support the growth of Indian CA firms and emphasise the strategic importance of aggregation for enhancing operational efficiency, global competitiveness and professional growth, ICAI established the Committee for Aggregation of CA Firms (CACAF).”
He also said that ICAI, a statutory body for regulating the profession of chartered accountancy, has revised guidelines for the merger and demerger of CA firms. “The revised guidelines aim to encourage firms to explore strategic mergers which can significantly enhance their market presence, operational efficiency, among others.
Recently, the Council also approved draft guidelines for Overseas Network, the same will be released shortly for Public Exposure for 21 days. These guidelines aim to establish a structured and regulated pathway for networking and collaboration,” he added.
“This initiative is designed to foster global connectivity, enhance professional opportunities for Indian CA firms, uphold the integrity and quality of services delivered as well as to support the evolving needs of the profession in an interconnected world,” Nanda said.
With inputs from agencies
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