Big 6 Accounting Firms Dominate India’s Corporate Audit Landscape
India’s corporate audit market is experiencing unprecedented consolidation, with the so-called “Big 6” accounting firms-Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, Grant Thornton, and BDO-increasing their stranglehold on India’s largest listed companies. Affiliates of the Big Six professional services firms handled 326 of the 483 Nifty-500 company audits as of March 31, 2025, accounting for more than two-thirds of all mandates and reinforcing their dominant hold on India’s largest listed companies, showed the latest filling data. Leading the league table was the EY Group with 176 companies, followed by KPMG Group (137) and Deloitte Group (128). As of March 31, 2025, the affiliates of Big Six audit firms were responsible for 694 out of 2,069 NSE-listed company audits—roughly one in three—according to the latest data. The top firms have maintained their dominance at the top. It will be interesting to see who lands the marquee mandates in the upcoming ‘rotation’. Grant Thornton Bharat and BDO have climbed to the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, in terms of listed company audit mandates, pushing PwC down to sixth place—a reshuffling that reflects the shifting dynamics among India’s top audit firms. “A new set of middle-tier firms is emerging as suitable alternatives for India Inc and that’s a good sign. These firms now firmly stands amongst the leaders by number, market cap & fees audited, and this shows there is opportunity for all Indian firms if they prioritise doing what’s right over what’s easy.
PwC continues to maintain a strong audit practice—still number 4 in market cap of audited companies & audit fee—backed by marquee Indian clients and top multinationals, but has adopted a more selective approach in taking on new audit mandates. In all, the top 10 firms accounted for audits of as many as 803 companies - or 39 percent of the total. Only 22 audit companies handled ten or more listed company mandates, while 608 audited just one, highlighting the strong concentration of work among a few large players and the significant challenges smaller firms face even as the audit rotation cycle begins in full effect next year.
