In our 150 years of existence in India, we have endeavoured to always remain relevant, serve the nation and its people, and help chart a path that lifts up our national and regional economies. Now we must redouble those efforts in a concerted push to restore trust everywhere. It is a fitting role for an organisation whose declared purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems.
Alumni Bytes
Go down memory lane
Retrace the firm's journey with our tribute to its legacy.
Our Journey
1872
In the city of Calcutta in 1872, on the banks of the river Hooghly, a Scottish gentleman, William Adolphus Browne, set up his practice as public accountants and auditors.
1880
A little later in 1880, Marc Meugens, an Englishman, started a similar practice and together, they helped establish a sense of professionalism in the way the industry would operate in India. By investing in new relationships, these two practices eventually evolved, prospered and grew into two large professional firms in India – Lovelock & Lewes and Price Waterhouse.
1950s
In the first years after India's independence, the partners remained British but in the early 1950s, that began to change. Soon after, both firms, Lovelock & Lewes and Price Waterhouse, inducted their first Indian partners. Rabindra Nath Sen was the first Indian to become a partner of Price Waterhouse in 1952, while Priyamohan Chakrabarti and Premanjan Niyogi became the first Indian partners of Lovelock & Lewes in 1953.
1998
The winds of change were sweeping across the firms and then a major development emerged. Internationally, a major announcement was made of the worldwide merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand in 1998 to form PricewaterhouseCoopers, or as we know it today – PwC.
With the merger of these two global firms, Price Waterhouse and Lovelock & Lewes in India became members of the worldwide network of PwC firms, each being a separate legal entity.
2002
New regulations in the US and the UK required accounting firms to change the way they managed their consultancy business. It led to PwC firms in India along with the other international network of PwC firms divesting their consulting business to IBM in 2002 while continuing to accelerate at a steady pace and take on new growth opportunities.
2007-08
This was a landmark year for relevant PwC firms in India, given the conclusion of three key acquisitions:
- ECS (which was earlier known as Eicher Consultancy Services)
- Tax advisory practice of Ambit RSM (subsequently renaming Ambit)
- Mumbai-based chartered accountancy firm Dalal & Shah added to the PW network of audit firms in India
2010: Rebranding
As a brand, the firm has always stood for warmth, trust and quality. To further emphasise this, in 2010, a global brand refresh was undertaken which went a long way in differentiating the ‘PwC experience’ – for the clients, people and communities.
2014: Booz Acquisition
As the firm grew in strength and capabilities, it realised that to truly lead in the modern marketplace, it has to strike the right balance of organic and inorganic growth opportunities. PwC acquired the strategy and operations consulting practice of Booz & Company, which was rechristened as Strategy&.
2021: Launch of our strategy - The New Equation
Today, the strides and measures taken are aligned to the new global strategy, The New Equation, that’s designed to solve challenges, build trust and deliver sustained outcomes for today and tomorrow.
2022 - Acquisition of Salesforce Consulting firm Venerate Solutions
In 2022, PwC completed its acquisition of Venerate Solutions, a Salesforce Consulting firm, enhancing its Salesforce consulting practice and platform engineering capabilities. It further established the firm’s position as a preeminent digital business partner with end-to-end transformation capabilities.
Disclaimer: Within PwC member firms in India (each such member being a separate and distinct legal entity), there is a history of providing professional services that dates back to 150 years. It is clarified that such services have been historically provided and evolved over a period of time – in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations – through various relevant firms in India forming part of applicable network(s) as they existed from time to time.
(c) 2022 PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.
