Modi govt paid Rs 500 cr to major global consultancies in 5 years, reveals report

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Union government paid five multinational consultancy firms at least Rs 500 crore over five years.

As many as 16 of the 59 ministries under the Centre hired firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, Ernst and Young Global Limited, KPMG International Limited and McKinsey and Company for 308 assignments, including for prominent ones like Aadhar.

The same was confirmed by The Indian Express through a Right To Information (RTI) application.

The Union Finance Ministry had written letters to all ministries and departments back in October demanding that they reveal the details of consultants employed.

The Finance Ministry surmised that some departments employed hundreds of consultants, many of them handsomely paid.

The 16 ministries that employed the consultancy firms in question were Petroleum and Natural Gas; Rural Development; Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances; Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade; Coal; Electronics and Information Technology; Health and Family Welfare; Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; Defence; Civil Aviation; Public Enterprises; Nonconventional Energ y Resources; Power; Road Transport and Highways; Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Tourism.

Petro Ministry biggest spender

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry and the four Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under it outsourced the most assignments worth Rs 170 crore.

The Energy Ministry and its nine organisations came in second with projects worth Rs 166.41 crore. NITI Aayog, the top public policy think tank under the Centre, outsourced seven assignments worth Rs 17.43 crore between 2019 and 2021 to evaluate schemes sponsored by the Centre.

PWC top recipient

PWC was the biggest beneficiary, bagging 92 contracts worth Rs 156 crore between April 2017 and June 2022. Deloitte was second in line, receiving 59 projects worth Rs 130.13 crore.

Details regarding four projects handed to Deloitte were not disclosed. Ernst and Young was handed 87 contracts worth Rs 88.05 crore, making them the third biggest beneficiary.

This figure doesn’t include five assignments that the company landed. KPMC bagged 66 projects worth Rs 68.46 crore, excluding five more contracts, the details of which remain undisclosed. McKinsey landed three assignments worth Rs 50.09 crore.