'Will Hire 20,000 People In India In Next 2-3 Years,' Says KPMG India CEO Yezdi Nagporewalla

The Big Four professional services firm KPMG in India will hire 20,000 people over the next two to three years between its India practice and its global delivery arm KPMG Global Services (KGS), Yezdi Nagporewalla, KPMG India's CEO has said.

KPMG currently has over 40,000 employees in India between KGS and KPMG India.

The firm had shrugged off the Covid-19 disruption and registered robust growth in the country as clients sought a variety of services to make their businesses resilient. "The firm's India business in FY22 grew over 25% and March 2023 numbers will also be upwards of 25%," CEO Nagporewalla said, as per an ET report "India is one of the top three fastest-growing markets across all geographies KPMG is present in."

KPMG International

He also said that India is the largest supplier of talent to the KPMG global network.

Targeting $1 Billion Revenue In India

Talking about when he thinks the firm would be able to clock $1 billion in revenue in India, CEO Nagporewalla said, "As a team, we have embraced the ambition of making KPMG in India a billion-dollar firm in the next three years."

Growing The Non-Audit Business

KPMG international

KPMG has been aggressively growing its non-audit businesses - consulting, tax and transactions - a trend that's being seen across the Big 4 firms, the report mentioned.

"We started our journey of re-focusing and revitalising our advisory practice a few years ago," Nagporewalla said. "The steps we took a couple of years ago in digital, data analytics, ESG and transformation services are paying rich dividends."

The KPMG India CEO also said the advisory is now almost 60% of KPMG's India business and is growing at a faster pace than the other verticals. Recently, the firm launched a de-carbonisation hub and KPMG Innovation Kaleidoscope Centre, a collaborative workspace for the firm's people, clients, and businesses.

In the audit business, many companies are now reaching the first decision point to change or retain auditors after a five-year period; the first since Companies Law-mandated audit rotation kicked in in 2017. "Overall, most companies have preferred to continue with existing auditors," CEO Nagporewalla said. "Clients don't like disruption. Most of our clients continue to be with us for a second term. We have a great team which delivers quality service and our clients value the relationship."

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¡°India Story Changing¡±

According to KPMG India CEO Nagporewalla, professional services firms will continue to see strong demand for their services, and the strong growth in the last two years wasn't just a Covid-19 bump. "The India story is now changing. We will continue to see strong demand for the next few years," he said, as per the ET report.

Going forward, a big focus for KPMG will be leveraging technology to develop solutions across service lines. "Traditional advisory businesses have transformed. Now you cannot have meaningful client solutions without technology," CEO Nagporewalla said. The firm is also actively scouting for M&A (merger and acquisition) opportunities in the advisory space, he added.

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