Arun Kumar likely to become next KPMG India CEO

MUMBAI: KPMG India board has nominated Arun Kumar, an Obama administration member and an old global hand in the professional service major, for the chief executive role, three people aware of the development said.

Kumar will replace Richard Rekhy who put in his papers in November last year, provided the firm’s Indian partners ratify his appointment. The ratification vote will be held on February 4, sources said.

KPMG India refused to comment on the development. Until recently, Kumar was assistant secretary of commerce in the previous Barrack Obama administration in the US. The nomination process started in late November.


Under the process, any partner could nominate himself/herself and finally the board is said to have considered five nominations for the top job.

As ET had earlier reported, the three Indian partners who had nominated themselves were deputy CEO Akhil Gupta, audit leader Jamil Khatri, and head of tax Girish Vanvari.

Arun Kumar was one of two Indian partners from the KPMG global network who were considered. The other one was a partner from the UK. Sources close to the development said the board met a number of in Mumbai to deliberate on the various candidates and finally decided that Kumar had the stature, experience and track record to lead the India practice