Grant Thornton may open office in Lucknow

Reputed international accounting and business advisory firm Grant Thornton is considering to open an office in Lucknow.

“We are considering to open an office in the Uttar Pradesh capital, but cannot say when it would materialise,” Glenn Stone, partner, Grant Thornton, told Business Standard here.

Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government had appointed Grant Thornton to advise on matters relating to public-private partnership (PPP) in the field of technical education.

Grant Thornton is one of the six largest global accountancy organisations and already operates in eight Indian locations including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Pune and Chandigarh.

“We recently met senior state government officials regarding various infrastructure and development projects,” he informed. UK-based Stone was in town recently to address the annual convention (2008) of the Lucknow Management Association.

He maintained there was an urgent need to change the perception of investors about UP and project the state as a “good and easy place to do business in”. Stone suggested that the state needs to translate city master plans into strong delivery plans with pilot projects.

“The state should create a central capital investment team and identify pilot projects across sectors,” he added.

Meanwhile, principal secretary (urban development) Alok Ranjan said the state would consider the provision of urban development fund on the lines of Tamil Nadu.