Is it possible for India to develop a large-scale CA firm that can expand globally and compete with the Big Four firms? It seems to be in the making. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs are working on laying the foundation for this.
ICAI President Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal mentioned, “We have formed a Committee for Aggregation of CA firms. It is actively focused on establishing guidelines for networking, multidisciplinary partnerships, international connections, mergers and acquisitions, and advertising. We are concentrating on these areas to enable Indian firms to go global.”
Agarwal further stated that ICAI is taking steps to empower Indian CA firms to expand globally and will be presenting their plans to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. He added, “The ministry is also interested in the growth of Indian CA firms.”
Currently, there are around 96,000 CA firms in India, with the majority being small to medium-sized proprietorships or partnerships. Agarwal emphasized the importance of allowing these firms to merge and grow, with the aim of providing them incentives, policies, and tools to facilitate this process.
Highlighting India’s abundant talent pool, Agarwal pointed out that many Indian CAs are already working internationally. Out of the 400,000 CAs in the country, approximately 160,000 are practicing professionals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had previously expressed the need for creating large Indian accounting firms to rival the Big Four, as there are currently no Indian CA firms among them. The top global accountancy firms include PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG.