The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has held discussions with ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) secretary Manoj Govil on the ‘Aggregation of CA Firms’ and the roadmap to create big Indian firms, a press statement by ICAI said.

Earlier in May, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said that the ICAI should take it as a challenge to set up an Indian ‘big four’ and seek global clients.

Interacting with the ICAI in Patna, Sitharaman had sought its commitment to start work towards the goal of setting up such a firm as part of the new government’s 100-day agenda for Viksit Bharat by 2047.

“Why is it that in spite of the large number of high-quality CAs in India — respected all over the world — our CAs become leaders and partners in Big Four firms.

"But you’d rather become a partner in a ‘Big Four’ but not form a ‘Big Four’ in India,” Sitharaman said.

The interactive session of the ICAI and MCA, held on June 21, saw active participation of large, medium and small firms in the CA profession.

“This format allowed for a comprehensive understanding of the diverse and emerging needs of firms across different scales of operation,” the press statement said.

The meeting was also attended by Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, president of ICAI, Charanjot Singh Nanda, vice-president of ICAI, Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, chairman, Committee for Aggregation of CA Firms, and Inder Deep Singh Dhariwal, joint secretary, MCA.