Let's firm up for India's fab four
For the first time, plans to create India's own globally competitive CA firms has moved from headlines to action. With GoI forming a committee to examine pathways for Indian CA firms to scale, the country has begun signalling something long overdue. This shift isn't just about protectionism, but also about correcting structural imbalances that have long disadvantaged firms. Such disadvantage comes not for lack of ambition, but due to legacy regulations that deter building cross-functional capacity, accessing external capital and even competitively branding oneself.Since 1991, the economy has seen liberalisation in almost all sectors. FTAs are now unlocking new opportunities at scale. But one sector still seems to warrant special protection: professional services. What's needed now isn't just incremental reform, but a systemic shift in how India regulates professional services, especially in the audit space. Done right, it could enable Indian CA firms not just to survive but also to thrive. If not, the notion of them being an 'endangered species' may well become a self-fulfilling prophecy, leaving large Indian CA firms on the brink of extinction.
Indian CA firms today can't share profits with anyone but Indian-qualified CAs - a legacy rule from a pre- digital, pre-global era. In contrast, global firms admit non-CA partners from tech, legal or consulting fields, helping them tap top talent to serve the complex modern needs of clients.
India should allow multidisciplinary partnerships, letting non-CAs join as partners, while retaining majority control with Indian-qualified CAs, as is common globally. This would help firms raise capital, attract investment and expand abroad. Capital or capability alone is not enough. Brand identity is just as important when firms compete for large, complex mandates. Today, Indian CA firms are constrained by legacy norms that restrict the use of brand identities, or references to global networks, even though over 100 of India's top firms have such affiliations.
This limits their ability to signal reach, consistency and capacity. In a marketplace where clients often rely on brand as a proxy for capability, these archaic norms become a structural bolt that holds back Indian CA firms. Allowing CA firm LLPs to choose brand names and advertise under guidelines aligned with the Companies Act and Consumer Protection Act will unbolt Indian firms and let them run the race. Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) recently released draft guidelines. These are welcome. However, disclosure obligations of overseas counterparties need to be simplified if this is to serve its primary purpose. Once Indian firms are in the race, they will need quick access to large mandates. If preceded by capital, capability and capacity, some level of demand enablement for Indian firms would be the final catalyst for turbocharging their run.
Such Indian CA firms are often not even in contention for a major audit or a government consulting contract. This can be enabled through preferential allotment of PSU audits or government contracts, and by extending joint audits to all top 50-100 companies for a short period of 1-2 5-year terms. The goal is not equality, but equity.
What India needs today is not just more small firms, but larger and stronger institutions. With the major April 1, 2027, round of mandatory audit firm rotation around the corner, there is a window of opportunity, although one that will be shut if we don't deliver by January 1, 2026. Most credible companies will close their new auditor choice in first half of 2026. That choice will hopefully include new 'Indian Big 10 or 20'. That enhanced choice will be better for India and all capital market participants. That is how we will enable the ecosystem - and realise the ambition of having four Indian firms at the centre of a new global 'Big 8' sooner than later.
The writer is CEO, Grant Thornton Bharat
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