Will CAG audit reports and studies done by "Big 4" in India? Can Bihar have its own Multi-Disciplinary Partnership (MDP) firms?

Union Sports Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya on September 12, 2025 inaugurated the PlayCom 2025: Business of Sports Summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, organised by The Hindu Group’s Sportstar in partnership with global consulting firm KPMG India. The minister  unveiled the KPMG Sportstar India Business of Sports Report, inaugurated the Sports Tech and Manufacturing Expo, a showcase of innovation and industry collaboration in the sporting ecosystem. The minister underlined that National Sports Policy makes a case for strong infrastructure, the application of sports science, and systematic talent identification and nurturing. 

Five days later, Ministry of Corporate Affairs issued a 8-page long Office Memorandum dated September 17, 2025 inviting public comments on establishment of Indian Multi-Disciplinary Partnership (MDP) firms by the Government of India. It reads: "Government of India is committed to enabling the growth of large Indian firms capable of competing with leading international players by facilitating establishment of Indian Multi-Disciplinary Partnership (MDP) firms." It has prepared a Background Note to identify the challenges faced by Indian firms. It seeks suggestions from the public "for necessary amendments to laws, rules, and regulations. These inputs will help strengthen Indian firms to compete not only in the domestic market but also globally." It states: "The Ministry of Corporate Affairs is actively working towards amending the relevant Acts, rules, and regulations to support the growth of domestic MDPs and enhance their international competitiveness." All stakeholders are required to review the Background Note and submit their responses on the same latest by September 30, 2025 on 'e-Consultation Module" or at the email so-pimca@gov.in. 

One partner of KPMG India moderating a session on 'Breaking Barriers: Tackling challenges in grassroots sports' at the Sports Conclave, Bihar.  On January 24, 2025, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had inaugurated a Sports Conclave in Patna which brought together a diverse group of athletes, experts, and stakeholders to discuss the sporting ecosystem in the state. It was organized by Sportstar in partnership with the Bihar State Sports Authority. This session had speakers like Sanjiv Kumar, a passionate educator and the founder of the Takshila Education Society, Rishikesh Joshi, the co-founder and CEO of Sports For All, Jatin Paranjape, a former India middle-order batter and son of Bombay cricketer and Anil Kumar Suravanam, the Founder and Managing Director of Great SportsTech established in 2004 and now recognized as South Asia’s leading sports infrastructure company. Prasanth Shanthakumaran, a partner of KPMG India moderated the session. Sources say, KPMG India has prepared a Sports Map for Bihar.  

Prior to these events, Business of Sports: Shaping a Successful Innings for the Indian Sports Industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-KPMG report was published which explores and assesses the sports ecosystem in India. It identifies the various players and addresses their specific issues and challenges. The study provided recommendations for both the government and private players’ efforts in enabling sports in India. The report underlined the need to create a roadmap for Sports to meet Business. The report was released by Ajit M Sharan, Secretary, Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports at the “SCORECARD 2014 – National Conference on Business of Sports” organized by CII on February 25, 2014 at New Delhi. 

It has been noted that the global consulting and auditing industry is valued at nearly $240 billion. 

 

While creating India’s own “Big 4” like accounting firms is critical to reduce foreign dominance, build global-scale Indian brands, and enable integrated audit, tax, and advisory services, the core question is who will examine Big 4 operations, wherein, industry and government contacts are layered and there is a revolving door system, run by and for the Anglo-Saxon beneficial owners who possess in-depth knowledge of key data and processes? KPMG is one of the "Big 4" firms, the other three are: Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Deloitte.   

 

Ernst & Young (EY) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with JEEVIKA to promote market linkage for Self-Help Group (SHG) products from Bihar on May 23, 2025. 

 

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been engaged as consultants for providing expert support to the dedicated Revenue Monitoring Cell (RMC) hich is regularly monitored by the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), Bihar State Power Holding Company Ltd. Notably, the Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the market capital-market regulator had imposed ban on PwC. It had banned it from from auditing listed companies in India for two years for its role in the Satyam Computer Services scam. action against PwC Its alleged role in various scams related to Global Trust Bank, Satyam and Vijay Mallya/Kingfisher airlines/UB group had come under scrutiny of a Joint Parliamentary Committee, especially with regard to its alleged role in the Global Trust Bank scam. In 2016, the Supreme Court had directed the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to submit a status report on the probe into allegations of violations of FDI  rules by PwC. In 2013, PwC was questioned by tax authorities investigating possible tax evasion by Finnish phone-maker Nokia. PwC also came under CBI's radar in the matter of alleged sale of confidential government documents on foreign investment policies to corporate groups.

 

In August 2025, it was reported that Deloitte is coming to Bihar with a tech park proposal. 

 

It seems foreign consultants and outsourcing entities have taken control of the government. 

 

On October 4, 2023, the Union finance ministry had asked all ministries and departments to furnish details of the consultants appointed by them, including their strength, selection process, normal tenure and average remuneration. In the letter, Annie George Mathew, special secretary in the expenditure department, said, “The information is required for meaningful discussion for allocation of budget under the professional office expenses/salary head.” An RTI reply published in a newspaper on November 7, 2023 said that between April 2017 and June 2022, the ‘Big Four’ consultants—PwC, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and KPMG—and the US-based McKinsey had grabbed 308 consultancy projects worth nearly `500 crore from 16 government agencies including the NITI Aayog and Aadhaar authority. 

 

Who is behind outsourcing?Can policy issues under national projects such as Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat be outsourced to consultants? K M Chandrasekhar, former Cabinet Secretary and author of As Good as My Word: A Memoir observed: ''The biggest casualty could be accountability. There have been innumerable instances worldwide of consultancy errors.' In their book The Big Con, economists Mariana Mazzucato and Rosie Collington pointed out that consultancies perform a ‘confidence trick’ where they may not have ownership of any scarce, expert knowledge. Yet, they ‘create an impression of value’ that in turn allows them to demand compensation that ‘far exceeds’ the actual value of the knowledge they bring to the table.”

 

Indian Express reported on January 30, 2024 ''Consultant Raj: 1,500, including from Big 4, in 44 govt depts; annual spend Rs 302 crore''. It pointed out that some 44 departments in the Government of India have 1,499 consultants from external agencies, including the Big Four (Ernst & Young, PwC, Deloitte and KPMG), working with them. These departments incur an annual expenditure of Rs 302 crore on these consultants. This is in addition to 1,037 Young Professionals, 539 independent consultants, 354 domain experts, 1,481 retired government officers, and 20,376 other low-paid staff hired on contract by 76 departments. 

 

Will Prime Minister's Office and offices of Chief Ministers be alert enough to recognize that regime changers have access to data and processes? To begin with CAG should be tasked to audit all the reports and studies done by these firms in India? Shouldn't Can Bihar have its own Multi-Disciplinary Partnership (MDP) firms? Government should give up the habit of running with the hare and hunting with the hound.