Govt floats paper seeking comments on creating India’s ‘Big Four’
September 18, 2025
The note said that even though the government is actively working towards amending the relevant acts and regulations to support the growth of domestic MDPs, some roadblocks need to be cleared to help Indian firms grow to the international scale.
The government has moved a step closer to creating India’s “Big Four”. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) floated a paper seeking public comments on how the government can facilitate the setting up of Indian multi-disciplinary partnership (MDP) firms. The note said that even though the government is actively working towards amending the relevant acts and regulations to support the growth of domestic MDPs, some roadblocks need to be cleared to help Indian firms grow to the international scale.
PM push for homegrown accounting giants
The note has come in the backdrop of PM Narendra Modi’s call for establishing four big Indian accounting firms that can make up the world’s ‘Big 8’. In June this year, The Prime Minister‘s Office held a meeting of senior government officials to give a push to the vision of creating large Indian advisory and audit firms that can compete with the Big Four – EY, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Deloitte.
The latest paper noted that the advertising ban on chartered accountants (CAs), company secretaries, and lawyers is restricting Indian firms from building strong brands and competing on a global scale, especially against multinational firms which can freely advertise and establish market visibility abroad.
Additionally, the paper said that the restrictions on MDPs prevent CAs, company secretaries, lawyers, and actuaries from working together under a single firm structure. As a result, they often operate in silos, limiting collaboration and the ability to offer integrated services like those provided by International firms.
“The suggestion to review the requirement of “majority of partners” referred to in proviso to Section 141(1) of the Companies Act, 2013 is under consideration. The three professional institutes – ICAI, ICSI and IcoAI – need to establish systems and environment for professional development, which includes shared common resources for smaller firms,” the paper said.
As per the paper, the international firms rely on for scale and consistency whereas Indian firms often lack integrated systems and cross-border alliances, leaving them at a disadvantage in delivering coordinated, world-class services and in building globally recognised professional brands.
The push to create India’s “Big Four” comes from the fact that Big Four firms control a large chunk of the audit and advisory business in India. For instance, the top audit firms cemented their position in FY25 as more firms engaged with Big 6 firms to get their audit work done. As per the primeinfobase.com, the top six audit firms handled 326 assignments of the 483 Nifty-500 companies as on March 2025, which was in line with the FY24 trend when Big 6 firms audited 67% of the Nifty 500 companies.
Out of 95,000 firms registered with ICAI, about 70,000 are proprietorship firms, and only 400 Indian firms have more than 10 partners. In contrast, some of the international firms have Much higher number of partners.
“The Big Four have long history of growth through consolidation. A simplistic approach as being attempted in India might not yield desired results. One can only hope that the latest government initiative is not yet another study without an outcome,” said Ashok Haldia, former secretary, ICAI.
The global consulting and auditing industry is currently valued at nearly $240 billion, but it’s dominated by international networks and global strategy majors. Despite India’s talent pool, domestic firms remain marginal players, particularly in high-value audits and consulting, partly due to structural and regulatory barriers.
“While government efforts so far have largely concentrated on the auditing sector, it is equally important to prioritise the consulting business, which represents a far larger share of the revenue potential and strategic influence in the professional services industry. The recent FTAs of India has opened opportunities for Indian consultancy firms to expand their presence abroad,” the paper said.
[The Financial Express]
