What's Changing - India

 

Please see below selected India-related change from 2015 and earlier, For change from 2016 onwards, please see What's Changing? - Economics and What's Changing? - Emerging Markets.

 

December 2015

• Buoyed by rising manufacturing output, India’s economy grew by 7.4% in the third quarter compared with the same three months last year. Buffered by financial gales two years ago, India is now the best performer among the BRICS economies, outpacing China’s growth rate of 6.9% in the third quarter. Inflationary pressures have receded, but reforms intended to streamline taxes, such as introducing a national sales tax, have stalled in parliament.

 

November 2015

• India is the only country that has the potential to change the world in the 2020s in the way that China changed it in the 2000s, argued the EIU. It will probably take a little longer than that before India really takes off but, even so, it is going to be a global growth powerhouse of the 2020s. A key driver of this would be expanding India's industrial base. This is the idea behind the government's ambitious “Make in India” campaign, a policy to turn the country into a manufacturing hub. The preconditions for a Chinese-style take-off of manufacturing do not yet exist in India, however. Basic skills and education are at a much lower level than they were in China in 2001, when its manufacturing sector globalised.

• In India, after long-drawn negotiations, merger talks between KPMG and boutique firm BMR Advisors fell through due to irreconcilable differences, according to sources aware of the development. One of the main reasons was the inability to resolve people-related issues. Some senior BMR partners were not happy with the roles that KPMG offered and the reporting structures that would have been followed. For example, a BMR founding partner would have had to report to a KPMG service line head who had previously been employed at BMR and had reported to him.

 

October 2015

• In India, KPMG is hiring six partners and about 40 other consultants to expand its digital practice. The firm has already hired two partners from PwC while the remaining partners may join from Cisco and one of the other Big Four firms. (Rachna Nath, formerly of PwC, has joined KPMG as head of digital advisory along with her 22-member team.) "Digitisation is the first and foremost thing in the mind of CEOs these days. In India too, business-led, technology-driven transformation will be critical," said KPMG's global head of management consulting. The firm claims to have the biggest digital practice among the Big Four, with a team strength of 350 consultants. With the latest additions, the total number of partners and directors in the team will rise to 20.

• India's fuel demand in September rose at the fastest pace in more than a decade, providing further evidence of a pick-up in industrial activity in Asia's third-largest economy. Fuel consumption - a proxy for oil demand - increased 15.1% in September from the same month a year ago, the biggest rise since August 2005.

• In India, EY formed a strategic alliance with Ebix, which provides software and e-commerce services to the insurance, financial and healthcare industries. The relationship draws from the common belief in the power of digital solutions in bringing about a transformative change in businesses that will result in better returns to both the customer and the enterprise.

 

September 2015

 

 

• Prospects for India’s growth acceleration await a pick-up in external demand and reform progress. GDP decelerated in the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 (ending 31 March 2016), as external demand weakened and investors hesitated awaiting further action on structural reform. Forecasts in ADO 2015 are revised down by 0.4 percentage points to 7.4% in FY2015. Growth is expected to pick up to 7.8% in FY2016 as key elements of the government’s economic reform package reach fruition.

 

 

• Accenture is reportedly looking to acquire mid-sized consultancy firms in India that are focused on product-side finance, human resource and supply chain. The consulting space in India is becoming tougher with more and more players entering the fray. Accenture is looking to position itself as a major player in India. The firm also competes with M Kinsey and BCG in providing strategy and technology-based consultancy. On the other hand, it also competes with the Big Four in other consultancy spaces including fast growth areas like turnaround practice. In many cases, Accenture's senior executives are actively involved in operations of some Indian companies. For instance, Accenture has been involved with Tata Motors since 2010."In India, the turnaround space is becoming like a catalyst, where everyone from McKinsey to the Big Four are competing.

 

 

• The UK is the largest G20 investor into India, supporting nearly 700,000 jobs, according to a new CBI report sponsored by PwC. Between 2000 and 2015 the UK invested $22.2 billion into India – 9 percent of all foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. This was ahead of the USA and Japan, and substantially more than other European G20 nations.

 

 

• With China’s economy slowing and its markets and policymaking credentials upended, India is plausibly poised to take over as the world’s fastest-growing large economy. Many Indians, deploying language that evokes the “India Shining” campaign used when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party was last in power a decade ago, see more than a glimmer of opportunity in China’s misfortunes.

 

 

June 2015

 

 

• As part of PwC Transactions Services' increasing focus on International Markets, we have launched Country Spotlight in which we share insights on our key markets. Here is Issue 2: Spotlight on India.

 

 

 

May 2015

 

 

• India is on track to overtake China’s growth with annual expansion of more than 8%, according to the country’s finance minister. The Delhi government is starting its second year in power by accelerating plans for economic reform and pledging to resolve tax disputes with investors.

 

 

 

March 2015

 

 

• India’s central bank lowered its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 7.5%. It was the second cut this year, but markets were surprised by the timing, coming soon after the legal framework was approved for the Reserve Bank of India to set official inflation targets for the first time. An initial target was set at 6% until January 2016, with 4% the aim after that within a 2-6% range. Inflation has slowed considerably in India over the past two years. It was an annual rate of 5.1% in January.

 

 

• India’s central bank lowered its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 7.5%. It was the second cut this year, but markets were surprised by the timing, coming soon after the legal framework was approved for the Reserve Bank of India to set official inflation targets for the first time. An initial target was set at 6% until January 2016, with 4% the aim after that within a 2-6% range. Inflation has slowed considerably in India over the past two years. It was an annual rate of 5.1% in January.

 

 

• Indian media noted the recent Big Four global leadership focus on India. KPMG’s global board, led by Chairman John Veihmeyer, will visit India next week, along with 90 CEOs from its global network. EY Global Chairman and CEO, Mark Weinberger, was in India during the last week of February, meeting key clients and senior government officials. Deloitte is having a global partners’ meeting this week in India. Also noted were the four visits to India in 2014 of PwC Global Chairman, Dennis Nally, the last in November 2014.

 

 

• Indian and international investors are optimistic about the prospects for accelerating growth in India, after New Delhi revealed a budget that will slow the pace of fiscal consolidation, while stepping up public spending in infrastructure. In his first full budget since Narendra Modi’s government came to power in May, Arun Jaitley, finance minister, said New Delhi would ease off a previously outlined fiscal road map, which was aiming to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of gross domestic product by 2016-17.

 

 

 

February 2015

 

 

• In India, real GDP grew by 7.5% year on year in the third quarter of fiscal year 2014/15, according to data released by the Central Statistical Office. An advance estimate shows the economy expanding by 7.4% for the whole of 2014/15.

 

 

• Over the next two decades, India has the opportunity to grow its GDP by 9% per annum to become a US$10 trillion economy, according to PwC's Join the Capitalising on India’s Revival webcast, which outlined he key growth opportunities and challenges facing clients in India and how PwC is best equipped to support them.

 

 

January 2015

 

 

• India will focus on “entirely new industries” - including solar technology, LED lighting, small cars, medical appliances and weapons - rather than trying to follow China into consumer electronics in its drive to become a global manufacturing power, according to one of its senior policy makers.

 

 

• The Reserve Bank of India cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in two years, by a quarter of a percentage point to 7.75%. Inflation has fallen in India, giving the bank more leeway for a shift in monetary policy to boost growth.

 

 

• The Indian economy is expected to 'turn the corner' on the back of structural reforms, posting around 7% in 2015 even as China could see an economic slowdown, PwC India said in a new report. "In the short term, low oil prices are likely to increase GDP growth, ease the pressures of India's high current account deficit and help bring down inflation," the report said.

 

 

• FTI Consulting has teamed up with India's biggest auditing firm Desai Haribhakti, aiming to challenge the dominance of the Big Four in forensic accounting.

 

 

• Led by the booming e-commerce sector, private equity investments in India surged over 17% with deals worth US$11.49 billion. The outlook for next year also remains positive, says a PwC report.

 

 

• The Boston Consulting Group found that The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex index, for example, has surged by more than 30% since the end of 2013 to reach all-time highs. One source for this optimism has been evidence that economic growth, which was below 5% last year, is enjoying a cyclical rebound. The more powerful driver, however, has been the election of a new government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.