NITI Aayog Report Outlines Roadmap To Boost India’s Professional Services Sector

To drive India’s economic resilience and future growth, the Niti Aayog on August 14, 2026 released a new report highlighting the role of knowledge-intensive industries in India. Titled India’s Services Sector: Insights on Regulatory Regime in Professional Services, the report refers to the Economic Survey 2023-24, which has observed the service sector as a “bulwark” of the economy by contributing 55 per cent to India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in financial year 2024. 

As the seventh largest exporter of services globally, India saw its professional and management consulting services contribute nearly 20 per cent of its total services exports in FY2024-25. This underscores the critical role the service sector has played in driving India’s economic growth, the report said.

The report identifies five professional services: law, accounting, architecture, engineering, and healthcare, as the high-value activities that are like the backbone of the service value chain.

According to the report, these sectors are essential for broader industries, such as manufacturing and agriculture. However, the regulatory landscape remains diverse and sector-specific for these industries. The report says that disciplines like medicine and law are governed by well-defined legal frameworks, whereas other disciplines like engineering and urban planning are lightly regulated, or lack formal regulation altogether.    

Legal Profession: The report highlights that the legal profession has traditionally been viewed as a noble calling rather than a commercial activity because of which the regulations have remained largely insulated from foreign competition. 

At present, the Advocates Act, 1961, recognises only a single category of practitioners, that is, advocates. While the recent rules have been notified to allow foreign lawyers and firms to practice only in a limited capacity in “non-litigious matters involving foreign law, international law, or arbitration,” the report notes that the practice of Indian law remains restricted.

Accounting And Auditing: The report notes that the accounting and auditing sub-sector, which comprises Chartered Accountants (CAs), Cost Accountants (CMAs), and Company Secretaries (CSs), has shown consistent export growth over the years, surpassing $3 billion in 2023-24. For further growth, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has recently notified guidelines for global networking to enhance the competitiveness of these service providers, though these have been temporarily put on hold. 

For this sector, the report identifies a need for greater clarity regarding the overlapping roles of the ICAI and the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA).

Architectural Services: For infrastructure related services, the report finds a significant gap in oversight. Architectural services are governed by the Council of Architecture (CoA), which sets the standards for education and practice of Architecture.

Engineering Profession: The engineering profession remains largely unregulated by a central statutory body, despite its notably massive contribution to technical education and employment. While engineering allows 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI), the report suggests that a statutory framework for specialised categories, such as civil engineers, could strengthen accountability and public safety.

Healthcare Services: Healthcare services are also undergoing a major regulatory shift with the establishment of bodies like the National Medical Commission (NMC) and the National Dental Commission (NDC). The report says that while the proposed reform in the National Exit Text (NExT) intends to standardise competency assessments for medical graduates, there is still more to be done. It brings to light the barriers to interstate mobility of medical professionals, where administrative formalities pose hurdles to the flexible deployment of health workers.  

To address these challenges, NITI Aayog has proposed a four-pronged strategy focusing on continuous professional development, adoption of the best practices in professional services, elevating professional services within the global service value chain, and advancing the emerging trends in professional services. The report provides the roadmap and encourages harnessing emerging trends, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) services.

It also suggests moving beyond back-end execution to high-value decision-making by setting up appropriate regulations and supporting the growth of the professional services sector for economic growth, and to achieve the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.