Consulting firms rush to Pune

KPMG latest to set up office

Topping up its global reputation as a major centre for education and the manufacturing industry, Pune is set to become a major destination for international business consulting organisations including the members of the erstwhile league of "Big Five."

Interestingly, what attracts them to the city is not just their global clients' preference for Pune as the place to setup business, but also the potential the city's existing businesses offer.

Among the most recent entrants to the city's consulting scene is KPMG. From the current 50 people set up, the firm intends to make it big, helped by its expertise in a variety of consulting practices.

According to KPMG India's country managing director Ian Gomes, "the new office will provide the entire portfolio of audit, tax and advisory services and will have an initial professional staff strength of 50 people. Our facilities here are designed to accommodate a three-fold increase in professional headcount, which we hope will occur in the short term."

Stressing the high expectations he has for the city, Gomes said, "I believe that the large Indian companies in Pune will become strong international players in years to come and some of them may even become global companies."

Making Pune its headquarters for its Indian operations is IT research and consulting firm Forrester.

It offers its complete bouquet of services, research, data, consulting and community or member-level workshops and events in the city.

Disclosing the reasons for setting shop here as cheaper cost of infrastructure compared to the metros, shorter commuting distance between office and home, presence of a large number of tier II management and engineering institutes and lastly the proximity to Mumbai, Sudin Apte, country manger, Forrester, said, "The city will grow as the metros of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have come to a saturation point."

In Pune since the last five years, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) has been providing city firms with all its services"� audit, tax, regulatory and consulting. The company just recently doubled its office space and is now expanding its operations.

Speaking to Business Standard, Jairaj Purandare, executive director (western region), PWC, said, "The city has undergone a sea change over the last six months. The companies are seeing tremendous growth and are also more open to seek consulting services"

With a client list that boasts of names such as Thermax, Cummins and Kirloskars to name a few, Purandare shared PWC's business outlook saying, "Pune currently contributes three per cent of our Indian operations. But in the next three years we expect the city to contribute 10 per cent."

The company, he added, "expects to grow at 60-70 per cent in the city and will double its clientele here from the current 150."

However, Apte pointed out, "The firms that are flocking to the city are companies looking at opening their second or even third offices here. We cannot take pride in such achievements." What the city requires is, "a political godfather such as what Krishna was to Bangalore or Chandrababu Naidu was to Hyderabad."