Global capability centres are fast becoming a powerful growth engine for India’s knowledge economy. The country now hosts more than 1,800 GCCs employing over 1.6 million people, concentrated in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Gurugram. Their growth trajectory is striking: industry estimates suggest India could house 5,000 GCCs by 2030. To sustain this momentum, the industry has urged the government to extend concessional corporate tax rates in special economic zones and provide policy clarity on GST rules.
Global capability centres were once synonymous with low-cost back-office operations. Today, they have moved up the value chain, handling end-to-end global mandates in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, product design, and digital transformation. Their collective contribution runs into billions of dollars, and they are now central to the operations of global banks, retailers, and energy companies. For India, they represent a shift from a service-driven model to an innovation-led economy.
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The country already attracts nearly half of all new GCCs worldwide. The question, however, is whether these centres will merely expand in number or evolve into platforms of genuine innovation — creating new products, business models, and intellectual property. Without the latter, India risks slipping back into being the world’s back office.
Global capability centres need talent pipeline
The next phase of growth for global capability centres will require talent of a very different order. India cannot assume that its demographic dividend will automatically deliver the required skills. Universities, IITs, and regional engineering colleges must align curricula with global enterprise needs. Companies require AI specialists, systems architects, and leaders who can handle global roles with design thinking and strategic vision.
The contrast is stark: a GCC that develops an AI platform for its parent company signals India as an innovation hub; one that merely tests software reinforces the old service appendage image.
Data infrastructure and regulatory certainty
A second challenge is data infrastructure. Advanced GCCs demand the ability to move, store, and analyse vast datasets locally. Yet, India’s digital ecosystem remains hampered by fragmented state-level rules and uncertainty over cross-border data flows. Unless companies are confident that intellectual property can be secured in India, high-value work will remain in California, Zurich, or Singapore.
The government must accelerate a coherent data protection regime and expand digital public goods infrastructure. Without this, India risks hosting only low-risk functions while ceding strategic work to other hubs.
Beyond tax holidays: GCCs need smarter incentives
While concessional tax regimes may attract investment, India needs performance-linked incentives that reward R&D spending, high-value mandates, and leadership roles for Indian professionals. State governments will play a decisive role. With global capability centres concentrated in four or five metros, the next phase of expansion must include tier-2 cities. That requires reliable power, better roads, affordable housing, and universities working in tandem with industry. Otherwise, the GCC story risks becoming another Delhi-centric policy vision.
India has seen ambitious industry policies falter—special economic zones that failed to scale, electronics clusters that remain import dependent. Global capacity centrs could go the same way if expansion is measured only in job counts while patents, innovation, and decision-making remain offshore.
India now has a narrow window to leverage the rise of GCCs into a $600 billion pillar of the economy. Companies are already experimenting with smaller “nano-GCCs” and technology-focused centres of excellence. What they seek is predictability—tax rules that do not shift overnight, secure data flows, and universities producing the right skillsets.
A well-designed policy governing global capability centres can make India the brain of global enterprise. The back-office era gave the country a seat at the global table; the next decade will determine if it can also secure a voice.