Deloitte India aims to be first Big 4 firm to hit ₹20,000 crore revenue by 2027, says South Asia CEO
Aug 4, 2024
Synopsis
Deloitte India planned to double its revenue to ₹20,000 crore by 2027 after reaching ₹10,000 crore in FY24 with a 30% growth rate. CEO Romal Shetty emphasized expanding in consulting, risk advisory, and new sectors like semiconductors. The firm aims to strengthen its presence in tier II cities and has made strategic investments.
Deloitte India aims to double annual revenue to ₹20,000 crore by 2027 and become the first of the Big Four firms to achieve this landmark, Romal Shetty, Deloitte's chief executive for South Asia told ET.
The firm crossed ₹10,000 crore revenue in FY24, a growth of 30%, emerging as the fastest-growing Big Four firm in the country and the second after EY to cross the milestone.
Shetty said Deloitte is the world's top professional services firm by revenue by a significant margin, and he wants to replicate the global success story in India.
"We aim to be the first Big Four firm in India to reach ₹20,000 crore in revenue by 2027, hopefully even by 2026," he said. "Additionally, we have set a new ambitious aspiration to reach $5 billion by 2030."
To achieve the growth targets, Deloitte added around 2,500 employees through team hires and more than 300 partners and executive directors through acquihires and promotions from June 2023 to May 2024. Currently, the firm is hiring 1000 employees per month.
For the firm, the consulting business and risk businesses grew at the fastest pace among all four service lines, with consulting clocking 45% and risk advisory 35-36% growth. "Our management plus technology consulting business is now the largest domestic consulting practice in India, surpassing all others in the local market," said Shetty. Currently, Deloitte has about 19,000 consultants and more than 200 partners and executive directors in its consulting business.
Shetty said Deloitte India's audit and assurance have grown in lower double digits, and financial advisory business clocked 25% growth, while the tax group had an exceptional year with FY24 growth outpacing that of the previous five years combined.
"Overall, at firm level, we had estimated a 22% growth, but we achieved 30%," he said.
After taking over, Shetty has also tweaked Deloitte's go-to-market strategy with a key growth driver being its market focus, strategically expanding through a combination of sectors and strategic accounts.
"We've doubled down on sectors like financial services and government, and invested in new sectors like semiconductors and space," he said. "We now focus on 150-200 clients. We also have multiple 400-500 crore plus accounts and a significant increase in 100 crore accounts compared to when I joined."
He added that Deloitte's largest project now involves nearly 800 people and the firm also has multiple client engagements with 600 and 500 people involved.
Going forward, Shetty said expanding into tier II cities remains a key item on his agenda. "We established centres in Bhubaneswar and Coimbatore. Coimbatore has exceeded its planned capacity of 1,000, and Bhubaneswar's five floors may soon be insufficient," he said.
In the past 18 to 24 months, Deloitte has invested in a state-of-the-art technology centre in Bengaluru, and also formed an innovation team of 200 senior people focused solely on creating innovative solutions without any revenue targets.
The firm had announced a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for senior partners a few months back, and Shetty said there is no plan to extend it. "Some partners, after 25-30 years of service, expressed interest in exploring new opportunities while still staying connected with the firm. This was not part of any restructuring or reorganisation but was purely voluntary," he said.
These days, one of the major worries for top professional services firm like Deloitte has been penalties levied by the ICAI disciplinary committee on issues like association with global entities, resource sharing and control, and referral fees.
"I believe it's crucial to consider multiple perspectives. Domestically, we employ nearly 5,000 CAs, with another 5,000 globally, totalling around 10,000 CAs. Their contributions are significant," said Shetty.
"Our request is for a comprehensive consultation process, including views from all stakeholders-Big Four, Big Six, Big Eight, and a number of other firms with network affiliations. Also important to know that we are an Indian firm, 100% owned by Indians and have been here for 130 years."
With over 3,300 partners and 150,000 employees across India, the competitive intensity among top firms is increasing.
[The Economic Times]
