Govt of India proposes to set up multidisciplinary consultancy firms
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs recently published a note seeking stakeholder comments to set up multi-disciplinary partnership firms to take on global consulting and auditing giants. Multi-disciplinary Partnership (MDP) firms will render multiple services like maintenance of cost records, accounting, auditing, assurance, secretarial, legal, valuation, and management, among others, under one umbrella. Global consulting and auditing giants include PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, EY, McKinsey & Company and Bain & Company. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has constituted an Inter-ministerial Group (IMG) on developing the domestic ecosystem of consulting and auditing firms under the Chairpersonship of the MCA Secretary.
According to the ministry, the global consulting and auditing industry is valued at nearly USD 240 billion and is dominated by international networks and global strategy majors. While India has a strong talent pool, its domestic firms remain marginal players, particularly in high-value audits and consulting, partly due to structural and regulatory barriers. It also stressed the importance of creating Indian global brands in various areas, such as environmental, social and governance, audit, advisory, compliance and multidisciplinary consultancy, including IT services.
This is in-line with the Government’s ambitions to create global level Indian consulting firms to compete with Big4s.
