TFS Gulf 
- No, not matchmaking for life partners but for its 96k CA firms.
- Yes, ICAI is building a digital platform to help firms explore mergers and alliances.
- Big-picture? Create large, home-grown firms capable of competing with Big 4s.
- Portal is not yet live…CA professionals are eagerly anticipating its launch.
What is happening?
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) is developing a digital platform.
Why? To transform how CA firms collaborate, merge, and expand.
Charanjot Singh Nanda, ICAI President, told ET,
“The networking portal will be a crucial step in facilitating the creation of large home-grown firms akin to the Big 4, in sync with the government’s vision.”
The platform is designed to help small and mid-sized CA firms:
- Pool resources
- Leverage each other’s strengths
- Broaden their service offerings
Why does it matter?
The stakes are massive.
- As reported by the Economic Times, the Big 4 (EY, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC), along with Grant Thornton and BDO, currently audit 326 of the 486 Nifty-500 companies
- Meanwhile, India has 90,000+ CA firms, most small and independent, struggling to compete.
- In June 2025, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had already flagged the urgency: “Indian firms must be capable of tapping into the $240-billion global audit and consulting market.”
ICAI’s strategic reforms
To support growth and consolidation, ICAI has introduced:
- Merger & Demerger guidelines: Rules are now cleaner and predictable.
- Aggregation of LLPs: Allowing firms to pool resources while maintaining their individual identities.
- Branding & advertising relaxations: Small firms can finally showcase expertise instead of staying invisible.
- Global tie-ups: Draft rules allow affiliations with foreign firms, without losing Indian regulatory protection.
- GIFT City tweaks: Indian firms can set up mirror entities in IFSC without losing domestic rights.
And now, the networking portal acts as the matchmaking layer connecting Tier-II and Tier-III city firms with bigger players.
But not everyone is buying the dream
Sandeep Welling of Kirtane & Pandit told ET:
“Chartered accountants are stuck in self-independence.
Unless restrictions or conditions force them together, consolidation will remain a dream.”
The challenges are deep-rooted:
- Trust issues: Partners don’t want to hand over control after decades of independence.
- Cultural clashes: Metro firms speak the language of consulting and digital, while smaller ones are still focused on compliance.
- Identity fears: Many firms proudly carry founders’ names — something partners fear losing in a merger.
Still, momentum is building
Many small and mid-sized CA firms have already started teaming up, proving that the “Desi Big 4” dream could soon become a reality.
2025: Kirtane & Pandit, Guru & Jana, and S S Kothari Mehta teamed up under ICAI’s Alliance Model.
2024: Bansi S Mehta joined forces with Karra & Co., bringing together two legacy firms across Mumbai and South India….
And several smaller firms have merged in the last few years.
Also read: CA Firms Kirtane & Pandit, Guru & Jana, SSKM unite to build India’s Next Big Global Consulting Firm
Government support
For years, PM Modi has pushed to build India’s own Big 4.
In fact, on September 23, 2025, the PMO, led by Shaktikanta Das, held a key meeting to fast-track reforms.
The focus: ease restrictions, encourage multidisciplinary collaborations, and give Indian firms the scale to go global.
Earlier, in late August 2025, the PMO held a preparatory meeting to discuss strategies for building domestic firms capable of rivalling the Big 4.
Wrapping up…
Ashok Haldia (former secretary, ICAI) told Caalley,
“The Big 4 have a long history of growth through consolidation.
A simplistic approach, as is being attempted in India, might not yield desired results.
One can only hope that the latest government initiative is not yet another study without an outcome.”
FAQs
Q: What is “Desi Big 4”?
A: The term “Desi Big 4” is simply a vision to create large, homegrown Indian accounting and consulting firms that can rival the global Big 4 (Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG) in scale, reputation, and international reach.
Q: What is the Indian government doing to create homegrown Big 4?
A: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) convened a meeting on September 23, 2025, to discuss regulatory changes aimed at facilitating the growth of Indian audit and consultancy firms. The proposed reforms include: Relaxing Advertising Restrictions, Permitting Multi-Disciplinary Partnerships (MDPs), Easing Licensing and Empanelment Processes, Encouraging Global Collaborations.
