Pallavi Jain Govil, Chief guest and Secretary, MCA emphasises strengthening India's domestic professional services ecosystem in the context of our development ambitions and increasing role of tech

Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, DG & CEO, IICA highlights continuing work undertaken by MCA and IICA to strengthen domestic professional services ecosystem through technology

Rahul Jain, JS, MCA, says tech, shared digital resources, institutional mechanisms may enable professional services firms of different sizes to strengthen their capabilities

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), with the support of the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA), organised one-day “Tech for Professionals” Workshop – Building India’s Digital Infrastructure for Professional Services at the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi, on 27 August 2026.

Graced by the Secretary, Ministry Corporate Affairs, Dr. Pallavi Jain Govil as chief guest, the Workshop brought together policymakers, regulators, technology companies, professional services firms, Professional Institutes, Digital Public Infrastructure experts and academics to deliberate on how shared digital infrastructure can strengthen technology adoption, capability and competitiveness across India's professional services ecosystem.

The inaugural session commenced with a Welcome Address by Shri Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh, Director General & CEO, IICA, who outlined the background to the initiative and the continuing work being undertaken by MCA and IICA towards strengthening the domestic professional services ecosystem through technology enablement.

Delivering the Theme Address, Shri Rahul Jain, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, set the context for the Workshop and highlighted the need to examine how technology, shared digital resources and appropriate institutional mechanisms could enable professional services firms of different sizes to progressively strengthen their capabilities.

Dr. Pallavi Jain Govil, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, delivering the Chief Guest address, emphasised the importance of strengthening India's domestic professional services ecosystem in the context of the country's broader development ambitions and the increasing role of technology in the delivery of audit, compliance, consulting and other professional services. She also appreciated the power of advocacy on shared digital public good infrastructure ideation foreeeeee traction for its beneficiaries.

The Workshop builds upon a series of consultations undertaken by MCA and IICA on strengthening India's domestic auditing and consulting ecosystem. As part of this process, MCA constituted a Sub-Committee on Digital Public Good in April 2026 to examine mechanisms for promoting technology adoption across Indian professional services.

The Sub-Committee submitted its report in May 2026, recommending a government-backed shared digital ecosystem aimed at addressing uneven access to advanced technology, professional knowledge and structured capability development.

The emerging DPG framework envisages three broad layers — curated technology access; learning and capability development; and knowledge and practice infrastructure. The proposition is intended to provide professional services firms, particularly small and medium practices, greater access to appropriate technology solutions, structured learning and professional knowledge resources without displacing existing institutional or market-based systems.

The first technical session, “DPG & Technology Infrastructure for Audit, Compliance & Consulting”, examined the purpose and possible contours of shared digital infrastructure for professional services, the gaps such infrastructure could address, and lessons from India's wider experience with Digital Public Infrastructure and comparable international initiatives.

The session was moderated by Shri Richard Rekhy, Vice Chairman, Grant Thornton Bharat. The panellists were Prof. R. Srinivasan, Professor & Chairperson, Centre for Digital Public Goods, IIM Bangalore; Shri T. Koshy, former MD & CEO, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC); Shri Sai Venkateshwaran, former Board Member, KPMG in India; and Shri Vikas Kumar, Senior Partner & CEO, T R Chadha & Co LLP.

The second session, “Role of Technology Firms in DPG Initiative”, considered how technology companies could contribute to the design, development and deployment of shared digital infrastructure for the profession. Discussions covered cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, enterprise technology and possible models through which technology providers could participate in the initiative.

The session was moderated by Dr. Pankaj Dikshit, former CTO, Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and former CTO, GSTN. The panellists were Shri Rajesh Ranjan, India Lead, Core Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google; Ms. Sonali Kulkarni, Partner, Dailoqa; Shri Sunil Gupta, Co-Founder, MD & CEO, Yotta Data Services; and Shri Sandeep Welling, Managing Partner, Kirtane & Pandit.

The third technical session, “How India's SupTech Systems Can Adopt DPI/DPGs”, extended the discussion beyond professional firms to the digital systems through which businesses interact with regulators. The session examined whether elements of India's supervisory technology landscape could benefit from greater interoperability, common standards and reusable digital building blocks based on DPI and DPG principles.

The session was moderated by Dr. Nisheeth Srivastava, Professor, IIT Kanpur. The panellists were Ms. Savithri Parekh, Company Secretary & Compliance Officer, Reliance Industries; Shri Joseph Joshy C J, CGM & CTO, IFSCA; Shri Gaurav Marwaha, Chief Product Engineering Officer, ReBIT; and Shri Puneet Narang, MD & Country Head, DWS India.

The fourth session, “Tech Implementation Insights”, focused on the practical deployment of technology across professional services firms at different levels of digital readiness. The discussion considered technology solutions already available in the market, models for affordable access, implementation and change- management requirements, and the sequencing of technology adoption for small and medium practices.

The session was moderated by Dr. Pankaj Setia, Chair, Centre for Digital Transformation, IIM Ahmedabad. The panellists were Shri Eric Anklesaria, Senior Advisor, PSB Alliance; Shri V. Easwaran, Whole-Time Director & COO, Protean eGov Technologies; Shri Viswanathan Ravichandran, Partner, Deloitte South Asia; and Shri Sarthak Jain, Founder, Fast-India.

Concluding Thoughts on way forward of the initiative

The deliberations reflected broad recognition of the importance of improving access to technology and professional knowledge, strengthening digital capability among smaller firms, ensuring interoperability and security, and developing the initiative in a manner that remains responsive to firms at different stages of technological readiness. Participants also highlighted the importance of building on existing systems and capabilities rather than duplicating them, while retaining openness, competition and choice in the technology ecosystem.

The Workshop marked a further stage in MCA's ongoing consultations towards developing an enabling digital ecosystem for professional services and strengthening the ability of domestic firms to participate effectively in an increasingly technology-intensive professional environment.

At IICA, the initiative is being anchored by the School of Corporate Governance & Public Policy (SoCGPP), under the leadership of Dr. Niraj Gupta, Head, SoCGPP. The proceedings of the Workshop were anchored by Shri Mathew John, Chief Program Executive, Centre for Board Excellence & Leadership (C-BEL), IICA.