 Mazars enters Indian advisory and consulting market

 Global accounting and advisory firm Mazars has made the decision to launch a consulting arm
in India. Global leaders at the firm indicate that the move is consistent with the composition
of its clientele
 The Economic Times reports that the firm will make several appointments to its consulting
arm imminently, ostensibly encouraged by the changing landscape in India’s advisory space.
The ongoing IL&FS saga, which implicates two of the Big Four accounting and advisory firms,
has created a trust deficit amongst clientele in the country.
 Clients in India that traditionally sought advice from the Big Four have become hesitant in the
wake of recent events, allowing a suite of firms one tier below the Big Four to eat into their
market share. Professional services firm Grant Thornton has already indicated its intentions
to capitalise on this trust deficit.
 Mazars appears to be acting on similar intentions. The firm already has a considerable
presence in the indian market, which spreads across key financial centres such as Bengaluru,
Delhi, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Across India, Mazars employs more than 800
professionals
 Kartik Radia, Managing Partner of Mazars India added to the Economic Times: “Mazars will
offer a full bouquet of advisory services in India including DATE (Digital, Analytics, Technology
and Enterprise Applications), GRC (Governance Risks and Compliance), Cyber Security,
Forensics, Deals-Corporate Finance, International Trade, Management Consulting, Finance
Transformation and Automation.

 India's public sector increasingly turning to management consultants

 Spending on external consultants by India’s public sector has grown strongly in the past five
years
 According to data sourced from research firm Euromonitor, India’s management consulting
market was worth Rs 4.5tn ($64.8 billion) last year, having enjoyed an average growth of
10.8% annually in the five years to 2018. While the bulk of the fee income is earned in the
private sector, the share of public sector spending has increased notably
 Country’s manufacturing sector is relatively low-profile, causing a major hindrance to its
economic sustainability and export capacities. Other criticisms include a low ranking on the
ease of doing business index, which is a result of rampant inefficiencies in various portions of
the established infrastructure
 The government has embarked on several missions to actively tackle these issues. Some of
the most prominent examples of these efforts include Make in India, Digital India, the Goods
& Services Tax and the Smart Cities initiative, among several others. The consulting sector has
been an integral part of these efforts.

1
 In 2017, NITI Aayog – announced that it would enlist the services of the Boston Consulting
Group, EY and McKinsey & Company to support with time-bound projects that come under
the ambit of various centrally sponsored schemes
 With their rapidly growing capabilities in the Industry 4.0 domain, several consultancies have
also been supporting with the setting up of Smart Cities across the country. At a State
Government level, McKinsey & Company has been working with the Andhra Pradesh
administration to develop the state’s new capital city of Amravati.
 Several public sector institutions outside of government agencies have also been enlisting
consulting services. The State Bank of India, for instance, is currently working with EY to solve
the financial crisis at Jet Airways, while EY has also been working on the divestment of public
sector airline carrier Air India

 Indian consumer durable industry to hit $36 billion by 2023

 Last year’s iteration of Google and BCG’s report on the Indian consumer market revealed that
only 20% of the Indian population was engaged in online retail and e-commerce
 Nevertheless, the finding is not void of indications for future growth. Roughly 850 million
people in India are expected to be active online by 2025, indicating a substantial opportunity
for the online retail segment. Last year’s levels of 20% already represented sizeable increases
from previous years
 This year’s analysis from Google and BCG finds that while the share of purchase itself might
not be conducted online, the internet most certainly plays a large role in India’s consumer
market today. The report uses the term ‘digital influence’ to describe any online activity that
might occur in the build up to a purchase
 Nearly 30% of urban consumers in India are currently digitally influenced, which is not likely
to be the same in rural areas
 Meanwhile in tier 2 cities, digital influence is growing substantially, having increased by five
times in the last year. The report also finds women to be more subject to digital influence
than men, given that the number of digitally influenced women has grown tenfold over the
last year
 By 2023, BCG and Google expect the share of digitally influenced consumers across
demographic segments to surpass the 50% mark. For the same period, the analysts expect
the consumer durables sector in India to reach as staggering value of $36 billion
 The report attributes this growth to several factors, including “low product penetration, rising
disposable income, increasing urbanization, easy access to credit & Government’s thrust on
electrification.” $10 billion of these purchases are likely to come in the online sphere

2
 KPMG boosts AI capabilities through acquisition of Recommender Labs
 Global professional services firm KPMG is looking to boost its artificial intelligence (AI)
capabilities, to which end it has acquired Mumbai-based Recommender Labs
 Developing capabilities in the AI domain – alongside other Industry 4.0 fields – is becoming
increasingly crucial for any given business in India
 Most businesses are looking to advisory firms for help to devise the best possible strategy
to develop AI capabilities, which places a significant burden on the advisory space. Most
major consulting firms are looking to develop their capacity in the AI space to help match this
demand.
 KPMG has become the latest Big Four firm to take a significant step in this direction. The
accounting and advisory firm is looking to build a Centre of Excellence in the AI domain,
wherein it will generate innovative solutions and improve on their delivery and response
quality
 Recommender Labs is an AI focused organization that enables AI and data analytics-based
decision making. The firm specializes in machine learning and develops individually tailored
algorithms and real-time analytical capabilities for its clients. The firm’s Founder & CEO
Sanjaya Sharma will now take up the position of Senior Advisor at KPMG.

 Big Four experts reflect on anti-profiteering measures for GST

 Two years on from the GST’s implementation in the Indian market, the practical
manifestations of the taxation system are coming under scrutiny
 For one, current collection levels are considerably high, but still fall short of the government’s
revenue targets for the scheme
 Since the introduction of the scheme, businesses across the country have been scrambling to
bring their operations within the ambit of the scheme, not only to ensure compliance with
the new regulatory paradigm, but also to reap the benefits of the streamlined taxation system
 The advisory sector has been especially busy, as most firms have turned to them for help with
implementation. However, one central objective of the scheme – to ensure that employees
face a lower tax burden – remains unfulfilled, primarily due to malpractices from companies
across the country
 A number of high-profile firms are engaged in profiteering, wherein the prices of their goods
are not adjusted in line with the lower tax rate, or by retaining the benefits of the tax cuts on
raw materials and other inputs. The government has now begun targeted efforts to reduce
these inefficiencies
 The government has recently taken a stand against profiteering and has now formalized this
position by appointing special GST officers to examine and evaluate the accounts of several
suppliers. Executives from the Big Four have welcomed this stand but offer a nuanced account

3
 Partner at KPMG India Harpreet Singh said, “Issuance of any clarification or SOP (standard
operating procedure) on anti-profiteering measures would always be welcomed by the
industry so long as it brings clarity to the end-consumer. If the aforesaid two are not covered,
merely covering ancillary issues is not likely to appease the industry.”
 Partner at PwC India Pratik Jain added, “Rate reductions began in November 2017 and this
exercise should be prospective and restricted to consumer complaints. If authorities start
reaching out, and if it becomes part of audit and assessment procedure, then it might be a
concern for the industry.”

 Indians are the globe's top adopters of FinTech products and services
 India has emerged atop a global list of financial technology (FinTech) adoption rates, compiled
by professional services firm EY. With 87% FinTech adoption, India shares the top spot with
China, while also boasting nearly 100% awareness of FinTech uses for transactions amongst
consumers
 Banks and smaller FinTech companies appear to have succeeded in spreading the value of
FinTech, not only in India but across the globe. EY’s latest Global FinTech Adoption Index
reveals that the average adoption rate across the globe is at 64% for this year, which is nearly
double the adoption rate in 2017 (33%), and four times the rate (16%) when the index was
first compiled in 2015
 In order to get a nuanced perspective on FinTech adoption practices, the Big Four accounting
advisory firm identifies 19 distinct FinTech services, and places then into ‘buckets’ based on
their similarities or differences. Only consumers that delve in at least two buckets classify as
FinTech adopters
 Overall, EY has identified five buckets, namely money transfers & payments, budgeting &
financial planning, savings & investment, and borrowing & insurance. Those developing
FinTech services in these buckets hail from varying backgrounds such as banking, insurance
and financial services
 In India, awareness and adoption has skyrocketed across all buckets. Overall, FinTech
adoption in the country stands at 87% – level with China – placing it at the top of the global
FinTech adoption list. Russia and South Africa also emerged with the same adoption rate of
82%, jointly occupying second place and rounding off the 80%+ countries
 The report indicates that while awareness and adoption around most buckets is high, the
transfer & payments bucket appears to have made the most significant inroads. In India,
99.5% of the consumers surveyed were aware of the existence of FinTech applications for this
breed of transactions
 According to EY, the high rate in India is a result of the government’s decision to cut down on
cash circulation, prompting many financial institutions to develop and market their FinTech

4
 services. One example of this is a partnership between Infosys Finacle and Tonetag, which is
currently working on a payments system based on sound waves.
 Sound wave technology will enable consumers to pay by hovering their mobile phones near
payment terminals. The service, which falls in the transfers & payments bracket, is being
marketed to as many as 800 million consumers. Several other firms of various size and scale
are working on similar solutions
 The size and scale in this case is significant because the rise of FinTech appears to have leveled
the playing field in the financial services sector. Smaller firms with technical knowhow can
now develop advanced FinTech applications and challenge the transaction services of larges
banks and financial institutions

 Growth in manufacturing should take India past the $5 trillion mark

 India’s economy is currently worth $2.7 trillion, but experts have long suggested that the
country is well on its way to surpassing the $5 trillion mark. By 2050, Big Four accounting and
advisory firm PwC predicts that India will become the second largest economy in the world
 However, the speed of growth that is required to reach the $5 trillion threshold requires
certain key structural changes within India’s economy. Analyzing the Indian
economy, McKinsey & Company has placed the required compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) to achieve the $5 trillion goal at more than 8%
 According to Managing Partner India Gautam Kumra, an increase in productivity is crucial to
this end. “If you look at the employee participation and improved rate, that would be about
2%. So, 6% must come from productivity growth," said Kumra, breaking down the focus areas
for economic growth soon
 Productivity extends across the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, although productivity
growth can be accelerated by targeting the secondary economy. “a 6% productivity growth
rate cannot be achieved unless the mix of GDP shift substantially in favor of manufacturing,”
said Kumra
 Management consultancy A.T. Kearney’s Global Managing Partner Johan Auri previously
indicated that India is not "production ready," and that significant changes need to be made
to bring it up to international competitiveness
 Kumra suggested that manufacturing needs to contribute at least 5% more to the GDP if India
wants to reach $5 trillion. However, there are several issues to consider when targeting
sector-specific growth.
 “If it is a game about productivity then you have to fix the composition of each sector.
Fundamentally, where it goes down is you must go and look within each sector; construction,
oil and gas, electronics manufacturing and we have to challenge what is the right comparative
industry structure to create.”

5
 Capgemini launches its specialized automation platform in India
 Global business advisory firm Capgemini is further boosting its digital profile in India, this time
through the launch of the Capgemini Intelligent Automation Platform (CIAP) in the country.
The platform is grounded in the artificial intelligence (AI) domain and is designed for efficiency
 Given the pace of digitalization, the platform has come in particularly handy for those
businesses looking to undergo a comprehensive digital transformation
 The differentiating factor for CIAP is its shift in perspective from the current practice of
leveraging automation in key strategic areas to deploying automated technology across
operations, with the objective of facilitating projects of large scale. As a result, the value
generated via the CIAP is reportedly higher than previous AI and automation platforms.
 The platform features several tools that are focused on speed. One example of this is the
‘FastTrack Hub,’ which houses readymade automated solutions that can be deployed
repeatedly, as well as specialized bots to match the scale of monumental operations
 CIAP is housed in the cloud domain, which lends the platform a degree of security and
flexibility, attributes that are essential in today's rapidly changing business environment.
Solutions developed via CIAP can be administered as managed services in the cloud domain
 In India, Capgemini appears to boosting its involvement in the digital environment. The firm
has been doing its best to foster local talent in the digital domain, first through a decision to
partner with local tech startups that display promising business models, and more recently
through the establishment of its Digital Academy in the country. The launch of CIAP is set to
rejuvenate its service to clients in the country.