Grant Thornton, BDO emerge as formidable challengers to Big Four in India’s audit space

Long dominated by the Big 4s — EY, KPMG, Deloitte, and PwC — the Indian audit space is seeing a shift with firms like Grant Thornton (GT) and BDO rapidly expanding their market share in terms of the number of companies they audit.

The shift has been triggered by the mandatory regulatory requirements to change auditors every five years.

According to the primeinfobase.com 2024-25 report, these firms are now key players in the “Big 6,” collectively auditing 67% of Nifty-500 companies and 34% of all NSE-listed firms.

Grant Thornton, which is placed fourth, saw a 12.5% increase in the number of companies it audits to 107 in 2024-25, up from 95 in the previous year.

BDO, which is ranked fifth and is placed above PwC, recorded the highest growth rate among the Big 6, jumping 30% YoY to audit 78 companies (up from 60). By contrast, the Big 4’s growth was more subdued. For instance, EY grew by 6% (166 to 176), while PwC grew by 7.8% (64 to 69).

However, in terms of audit fee, the Big 4s — EY, KPMG, Deloitte, and PwC — maintained their dominance by cornering 29% of the total audit fee of Rs 1,903 crore in 2023-24.