Big 4 firms in India cashed ₹20,000 Cr from Tech Consulting, not Audits

• Big 4 – Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG are quickly growing their technology consulting arms—going head-to-head with traditional IT giants like TCS, Infosys, and Accenture.
• According to The Economic Times, in FY24 alone, the Big 4 in India earned ₹20,000 crore from tech consulting — over 50% of their total revenue of ₹38,500 crore.
• So what triggered this transformation?

2000: Why Big 4s gave up their IT consulting arms

In the late ’90s, the Big 5 (before Andersen collapsed) offered both audit and consulting services.

But then came Enron.

Andersen, the auditor of Enron, was also offering it tech consulting services. The scandal raised a key question:

“How can you objectively audit a company when you’re also advising them?”

In response, the US passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in 2002. The law forced audit firms to separate consulting from audit—ushering in a new era.

And that’s why the Big 4 had to officially separate their audit and advisory functions.

What next?

Between 2000–2002:

• PwC sold its consulting arm to IBM for ~$3.5 billion
• EY sold to Capgemini in 2000 for $11 billion
• KPMG spun off BearingPoint
• Deloitte (only exception!) Initially planned a spinoff, but later retained its consulting arm in-house (with some adjustments) and that decision would shape its dominance in the years to come.

For nearly a decade, Big4s was boxed into audit, tax, and strategy advisory.

Came mid-2010s…

By the mid-2010s, clients began demanding integrated solutions—they wanted digital transformation at scale:

• AI and analytics
• Cloud migrations
• Cybersecurity
• Automation

Big 4s began rebuilding their tech consulting capabilities in India & globally: 

• Acquisitions: Buying boutique tech firms and AI startups
• Alliances: Deep partnerships with SAP, Salesforce, AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud
• Hiring: Bringing in engineers, data scientists, and product builders
• Global Delivery Centers (GCCs): Setting up huge tech teams in India, Poland, Philippines\

Then came COVID—a tipping point.

Everyone—from banks to manufacturing giants—wanted end-to-end digital transformation.

• Not just dashboards or RPA tools.
• End-to-end change.
• AI strategy.
• Cloud migrations.
• Cyber defense

And they didn’t want a typical IT vendor.

They wanted someone who understood regulations, governance, risk—and tech.

And that’s when the Big 4 were ready.

India Chapter: Why Big 4 Tech Consulting is booming

Traditionally in India, tech transformation was the domain of Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Capgemini, and Accenture.

The Big 4? Focused on audit, tax, and compliance.

But post-2015, India began to matter differently:

• Global clients wanted tech execution at scale

• India became the base for massive Global Capability Centers (GCCs)

• Indian Big 4 teams started building AI, cloud, cybersecurity capabilities—not just slide decks

While Accenture, Infosys, and TCS still dominate the Indian IT landscape, Big 4 firms are emerging as credible challengers—especially in:

• Regulated sectors (BFSI, energy, healthcare)
• End-to-end transformation
• Governance-heavy environments

FY24 numbers speak

As per The Economic Times, Big 4 India earned approx ₹20,000 crore from tech consulting—over 50% of their total revenue of ₹38,500 crore.

• Deloitte India: ₹10,000 crore (60% of its income comes from consulting services)
• EY India: ₹13,400 crore+, up 16–17% (consulting segment alone crossed ₹8,000 crore)
• PwC India: ₹9,200 crore
• KPMG India: ₹5,900–6,200 crore

Overall, Consulting, especially in tech and risk management, has proven to be the powerhouse for India’s Big 4.

Thus Consulting is the golden goose (even) in India!

Who’s leading India’s Big 4 tech race?

As per ET,

• Deloitte: Largest tech consulting headcount. Fastest growth!
• PwC: Tech is nearly half its workforce. Betting big on “The New Equation” strategy.
• KPMG: Underrated but bold—50% of the workforce in tech, strong AI traction.
• EY: Quiet executioner. Strong in data, cloud, and cyber.

Big 4s are hiring tech at scale

Tech is now half (or more) of the Big 4’s India headcount.

Sathish Gopalaiah of Deloitte South Asia told The Economic Times, “Our tech consulting grew 38% last year — and we’re just getting started.”

And the tech investments are massive:

• PwC: ₹300 Cr into tech hiring & acquisitions

• Deloitte: 9% of revenue into tech

• KPMG: 8% of tech revenue reinvested

Wrapping up…

Big 4s are no longer just about audits, taxes, or regulatory filings.

This isn’t just a story of changing service lines—it’s a shift in what the Big 4 represent.

And by FY26, thousands more will join — not as auditors, but as:

• Data scientists
• Cloud architects
• AI engineers
• Cybersecurity specialists
• Product managers

Important to note that Tech transformation projects have cooled, and global uncertainties are making corporations more cautious.

So, while growth has been stellar, some of these firms are also facing pressure.

(Source: The Economic Times)