Rathin Datta
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The Legacy Continues... Rathin Datta A history of Price Waterhouse, Lovelock & Lewes and PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. in India Rathin Datta This is an internal document of Price Waterhouse, Lovelock & Lewes and PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. meant only for the private reading of the Partners and Executive Directors of these entities and intended to be archived by these entities as an internal record. Published by Nandini Chatterjee of PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd., Y14, Block EP, Sector V, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 091, as an internal document of Price Waterhouse, Lovelock & Lewes and PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. Design: [email protected] Printed by: Paramount Printographics Contents Introduction 5 Chapter I –The Early Days Calcutta in 1880 7 The founding of PW 9 The founding of L&L 15 The shifting of the Capital 22 International linkage of PW 23 The Managing Agency Houses 31 The Indian Industrialists 33 Post World War I 34 Early years of the profession 37 Offices in those days 39 Run up to World War II 43 Birth of a Nation 46 Chapter II – Post Independence Era The dawn 49 Cawnpore & Madras 50 East Pakistan 50 Socialistic Pattern of Society 52 Leadership changes 53 Eclipse of the Agency Houses 55 Other Offices 57 Nationalisation 59 1970s-1980s 61 Regulations 69 Chapter III –The Era of Reforms 1990s 71 Reforms 74 Merger 75 The rise of MCS 78 Not IT alone 85 Epilogue 90 Appendix 91 Madras (Chennai) Office 92 Bombay (Mumbai) Office 94 New Delhi Office 96 Bangalore Office 98 Pune Office 100 Hyderabad Office 102 Bhubaneswar Office 104 The Legacy Continues... 5 Introduction In the last quarter of the nineteenth reforms of 1991 which has sent this century, in the city of Calcutta on nation of more than a billion people the banks of the river Hooghly, two hurtling in the accelerated trajectory of enterprising accountants Marc growth and prosperity. Meugens and W A Browne had started their individual professions as Out of PW had emerged a consulting accountants, auditors and liquidators. company, Price Waterhouse Associates From these two practices evolved the Pvt. Ltd. (PWAPL). PW and PWAPL two large Indian professional firms of were member firms of the Price Price Waterhouse (PW) and Lovelock & Waterhouse network. L&L was a Lewes (L&L). Almost from the inception, member of the network of Coopers they were the two bigger firms among & Lybrand. And when these two their peers – a position they retained networks merged, PW, PWAPL and all along as they grew and prospered L&L came together and became Rathin Datta, Chairman and CEO together, side by side, over more than members of the merged worldwide PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. a century – living through a history network of PricewaterhouseCoopers. which saw a country under the yoke PWAPL then changed its name to of a foreign rule, the two world wars PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. of 1914 and 1939, the devastating (PwCPL). famine of 1943, a unique struggle for independence the like of which Browne had set up his practice in 1872. the world had never seen, the birth Meugens had followed suit 8 years of an independent nation, followed later in 1880. Taking the later of the two immediately by the colossal bloodshed dates, the year 2005 marks the 125th of a fratricidal communal riot from year of their combined presence in this which India emerged to establish the country. largest democracy in the world, the struggle for growth in the restrictive post independence economic era dominated by socialist policies and finally the economic emancipation ushered in by the liberalization and 8 The Legacy Continues... The Early Days Calcutta in 1880 Hark back to 1880. The city which Job rule was politically a relatively quieter Charnock, then agent of the East India period. It witnessed a spurt in machine Company, founded on that monsoon based factories and afternoon of 24th August 1690 and mining. Calcutta which grew on the site of the three had become fishing villages of Gobindapur, Sutanuti the hub mainly and Dihi Kolikata (which his successor for jute, tea and and son in law Charles Eyre purchased coal (and also for the Company, for a sum of Rupees of other sundry 1,300 from the Sabarno Roy Chaudhuri manufacturing family on 10th November 1698) had, business), by 1880, become the most important mostly promoted centre of economic and administrative by Scottish activity east of the Suez. Lord Ripon and English was the Viceroy ruling India from the entrepreneurs who imposing Government House built formed Managing in 1802 by Lord Wellesly at the site Agencies in of the old Buckingham House west partnerships of Chowringhee. Queen Victoria had to manage not already proclaimed herself the Empress only the rupee of India on 1st January 1877. Calcutta companies set was the capital of British India – the up by themselves “city of palaces” – in the words of Lord but also the Curzon “the second city to London in Indian businesses of the sterling the entire British Empire.” companies promoted in London by their countrymen. Their interests were Following the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, represented by the powerful Bengal the East India Company had yielded Chamber of Commerce which had its administrative authority over India to been in existence since 1853. The the British Crown in 1858. The second Marwari traders, some of whom had half of the nineteenth century which made their fortunes in the earlier saw the consolidation of the British decades exporting opium to China The Legacy Continues... 9 Royal Exchange Building in 1880 and cotton to Lancashire during the Marylebone Cricket Club, which was American civil war, were emerging established in London in 1787. Racing as a significant group in the Calcutta took place in the early mornings money market working as banyans for between 7 o’clock till 9 and Polo was the managing agency houses. There played in the afternoon at the Maidan were also the Armenians, the Jews, the by those who could afford it. There Parsees and the Chinese. The French was the Bengal Club established in and the Portuguese who had preceded 1827 next to the Maidan (at the site the British had their colonies a few which used to be the residence of Lord miles up the river in Chandannagore Macaulay) exclusively for high placed and Chinsurah. They all lived side expatriates “into which it was difficult by side with the original Bengali to obtain an entrance unless you had inhabitants. It was a cosmopolitan city been a long time in the city and had a bustling with trade and activity. certain standing”. The Saturday Club was established in 1880 for sports Prior to 1880, the only means of and leisure. (The Calcutta Club started transport were the palanquins and much later, in 1907.) hackney carriages. 1880 witnessed the introduction of the first public transport Nationalism was simmering on the by the Calcutta Tramways Company surface. The Indian National Congress whose horse drawn trams started plying was yet to take birth. (It was founded the course from the Sealdah railway in 1885 by seventy-two political station to Chandpal Ghat via Dalhousie workers with W. C. Bonnerjee as the Square. Bicycles arrived in 1889 and first President, under the initiative of a the first motor car in 1896. Telephones retired English IAS officer A. O. Hume.) arrived in 1882 and the first movie was Meanwhile, the great novelist Bankim shown in the Star Theatre in 1898. Chandra Chattopadhyay had already composed, in 1875, the famous song The English had brought cricket to starting with the two famous words Calcutta which was played under the Bande Mataram (which he inserted in auspices of the Calcutta Cricket Club his novel Ananda Math in 1882) – which (CCC). The discovery of a reference was to become the clarion call of to this club in Hicky’s Bengal Gazette India’s independence movement. of 1780, predates this club to the Author of ‘Bande Mataram’ 10 The Legacy Continues... The Early Days The founding of PW It was in the above ambience, on 24th earthquake and plague in Calcutta. September 1880 that Marc Meugens, On his father’s retirement he became an Englishman of Belgian descent the senior partner of the firm. Under started his practice as accountants, his stewardship the firm grew rapidly. auditors and liquidators at 6 Old (There is an unconfirmed heresay that Post Office Street. It appears that the at some stage during this period the practice grew rapidly, for within four firm moved to 138 Canning Street.) years, by 1884 he had inducted a partner, I M King converting the sole E E Meugens soon became a proprietorship into a partnership under prominent member in the society. For the name and style Meugens & King. some years he sat on the Viceroy’s In 1892 he inducted a third partner, Legislative Council. During the war he Simpson, into the firm and the name was the Comptroller of Hostile Firms was changed to Meugens, King & in India. His roots were Simpson. After Simpson’s retirement in from Belgium and for his 1910 the name changed to Meugens, distinguished services, King & Co. his grandfather’s native country awarded him the In those early days, like in the early Order of the Crown of years of the profession in the UK Belgium. It still lies in the and USA, the individuals were more safe in Calcutta. prominent than the organization and hence the firm names changed with the He was an avid sportsman entry and exit of partners. At the same and played football for time there was the recognition that the Calcutta. Football had goodwill remained attached to the firm become a craze.