PwC seeks new India chairman

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has started the process of finding a new chairman for its India organisation, as current Chairman Gautam Banerjee is preparing to give up his responsibilities.

Banerjee, also the chairman of PwC Singapore, is responsible for the organisation in other parts of south-east Asia. PwC is also looking for a chief operating officer, likely to be a foreigner.

Banerjee last year took over as the chairman of the Indian arm of the auditor, soon after the Satyam fiasco broke out and the then chairman Ramesh Rajan quit. Peter Harvey was brought from the London office as Banerjee's deputy, but he has since retired.

Banerjee told Business Today on the sidelines of the Summit: "The process to find a new chairman has started. We have taken a view that the election process is divisive. Therefore, our partner advisory committee will ascertain the views of all the partners and a chairman would emerge."

He is also keen to induct a chief operating officer into the Indian arm, with a global experience.

Sources said Jairaj Purandare and Deepak Kapoor have emerged as the top contenders for the post. Purandare has his nose ahead and would most likely be the new PwC chairman in India. The results are likely to be announced on December 15.

The world-renowned auditor has continued to see some exits - V Namasivayam, their head of Public Sector practice quit with a large number of people last month, and joined Deloitte.

Banerjee feels he has accomplished a fair bit in his efforts since he took over as the chairman. He pointed out that the firm today has 160 partners, close to the number it had before the exodus of partners started last year. The group now also has around 7,000 employees in India.

The chairman said he has already completed the task for which he had come to India, sharing:"We have retained the tax practice, though we saw a lot of exits. We have also seen confidence being reposed in us by our clients for our audit practice. Today, we are a lot more stable organisation and we have brought in talent from a lot of organisations including from outside the accounting-audit firms."