On Friday, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) convened a pivotal meeting to discuss the creation of India’s own ‘Big Four’ accounting firms. The initiative—led by Shaktikanta Das, Principal Secretary to PM Narendra Modi—seeks to foster large, homegrown audit and consultancy firms that can compete with global giants like EY, KPMG, Deloitte, and PwC.
The plan is part of a long-standing vision laid out by the Prime Minister in 2017, who had called for India to cultivate four globally competitive firms that could be counted among the world’s top eight. The meeting saw participation from top officials across the PMO, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and regulatory bodies.
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Addressing Structural Gaps and Global Dependence
India’s audit sector is currently dominated by the global Big Four and their affiliates, who oversee assignments for a majority of Nifty 500 firms and generate estimated revenues exceeding ₹45,000 crore annually. The government sees this dominance as a structural gap in India’s professional services architecture—one that undermines local capacity, innovation, and regulatory autonomy.
The draft regulatory framework proposed by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) includes new guidelines to ease mergers, extend registration deadlines, and waive certain fees for domestic firms. The goal is two-fold: help Indian firms scale and allow existing ones to formalize tie-ups with global players under strict regulatory scrutiny.
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Building the Foundations for Global Expansion
The proposed framework also mandates a senior partner to act as a compliance nodal officer in any cross-border merger, ensuring accountability. Firms would need to register their global affiliations formally, reversing the current informal structure that often clouds transparency.
This structural revamp complements other reforms underway, including liberalized professional guidelines and incentives for knowledge-based exports. By building scale through mergers, simplifying the path to expansion, and introducing clarity in global tie-ups, the government hopes to create an ecosystem where Indian firms do not just serve local clients—but audit the world.