Grant Thornton India to offer consultancy

Grant Thornton, one of the world's leading professional services firm, is all set to enter the consultancy business in India.

"We are setting up an office in Bangalore which will drive our consultancy business," Rajesh Jain, chief operating officer, Grant Thornton India, told Business Standard.

According to Jain, Grant Thornton has already identified a partner who would be leading the consultancy practice out of Bangalore.

Though he refused to name the partner, Jain said that he would be joining from one of the top professional services firms in the country.

To begin with, the practice will be carried out by a team of five. Though based at Bangalore, it will offer services to corporates all over the country.

So far, Grant Thornton was present in the service areas of corporate finance, risk management and tax advisory. Walker Chandiok, its affiliate firm, offers audit services. Consultancy would be its fifth line of service.

Worldwide, Grant Thornton specialises in offering consultancy services to small and medium-sized businesses, a large number of which are family-owned enterprises.

In keeping with the focus, the firm will target companies with a turnover of upto Rs 300-400 crore, according to Jain who recently joined Grant Thornton from KPMG.

Jain also said that Grant Thornton has plans to develop India as a centre for business process outsourcing.

As a result, Grant Thornton will have a BPO centre for its operations worldwide and for its non-audit clients in the US and UK. (The Sarbanes Oxley Act forbids accounting firms from offering other services to its clients.)

"We are also talking to some insurance companies in the UK through Grant Thornton. It could be backoffice work as well as complaint handling and a mix of voice and date," Jain said.

All told, Grant Thornton is likely to create 450 BPO jobs in the next one year.

Jain said that the operations could either be located in Delhi or Gurgaon. The services offered would be in the areas of tax returns, payroll and accounting.

In addition, Grant Thornton India has set up a six-seater centre to offer BPO services to local companies.