Debate Intensifies as PMO Pushes for ‘India’s Big Four’ Amid Concerns Over Existing Global Players’ Dominance

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) recently convened a high-level meeting to explore the creation of large Indian advisory firms capable of competing with the global Big Four — EY, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Deloitte. Chaired by Shaktikanta Das, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, the meeting was attended by senior officials from key economic ministries and the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. The agenda focused on identifying and removing barriers for Indian Chartered Accountancy (CA) and advisory firms, with the goal of enabling them to scale up and compete internationally.

While the vision has been widely welcomed as a step toward strengthening India’s consultancy ecosystem, several industry experts have raised concerns about the entrenched dominance of the existing global Big Four firms in India’s public sector consultancy space. These multinational firms entered the Indian market as audit companies but have since expanded their footprint into large-scale consultancy and ...