India to soon have its own Big 4 accounting firm, says Piyush Goyal

Bern: In a significant push toward building self-reliant professional services capabilities, Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday said India is on track to establish its own “Big Four” accounting firms - a move aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier call for creating Indian champions in the global financial and consulting services sector.

“We’ll have our Big Four in India very soon,” Goyal said, speaking on the sidelines of his visit to Switzerland. 

“Each of the existing Big Four is hiring over 100,000 people in India. Now we are trying to create our own Big Four,” he added, underlining the scale and ambition of the initiative.

Prime Minister Modi has, in the past, urged the Indian private sector and regulators to develop global-scale auditing and consulting firms rooted in Indian talent and values. 

In line with this, a government-appointed panel was recently formed to chart the roadmap for building a homegrown accounting powerhouse that can compete with the established global giants.

Goyal made the remarks while highlighting India’s broader economic appeal, adding that FDI will come with technology, R&D, innovation, and it will create jobs.

The move to develop a domestic Big Four is seen as both strategic and symbolic - aimed at enhancing India’s global standing, ensuring independence in audit and consulting services, and boosting large-scale employment across the professional services sector.