Telangana's GCC advantage: Hyd's role in India's innovation future
'The speed at which Telangana transitioned from basic back-office operations to a global hub for innovation is truly remarkable,' Dr Purav Gandhi, CEO & Founder of Healthark, toldThe Hans India. Hyderabad has evolved into an integral node within global R&D and innovation networks, going beyond simple outsourcing, he added. Dr Purav Gandhi is a physician with an MBA and over 15 years of experience in the healthcare and life sciences industry, with deep expertise in advising clients across the full spectrum of life sciences domains.
Telangana's deliberate policy agility underpins this success. Initiatives like TS-iPASS -Telangana's single-window clearance system - deliver rapid project approvals, often within two weeks. Combined with robust infrastructure, tailored incentives, and proactive governance, Hyderabad now offers multinationals unmatched efficiency and stability.
The impact is evident across sectors. Global firms like Novartis, Bayer, HSBC, Micron, and Salesforce have significantly expanded their Hyderabad operations, shifting key global functions to the city. A groundbreaking collaborative model emerged in 2024, when 40 global healthcare firms joined to form the Life Sciences & Healthcare GCC Consortium, highlighting industry-driven collaboration rather than competition as a core strength.
Yet, Hyderabad's story transcends healthcare alone. Banking giants such as JP Morgan and Wells Fargo use Hyderabad's analytics expertise for global risk management. Semiconductor leaders Micron and AMD rely on local engineering talent. Climate-tech innovators actively pursue cutting-edge solutions within Hyderabad's expanding R&D infrastructure.
However, maintaining this trajectory requires addressing significant challenges. Growing talent demand in fields like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced analytics already surpasses local supply.
Dr Gandhi emphasizes the need for swift action: 'Telangana must quickly expand its talent pipelines through innovative education models, micro-credentialing programs, satellite innovation hubs in tier-2 cities, and dedicated skill-development universities.' As Hyderabad continues its rapid economic ascent, the pressure on urban infrastructure is becoming increasingly evident. The city's success story must now be matched by strategic investments in housing, mobility, and sustainable development. Without thoughtful planning and timely action, the very growth that fuels Hyderabad's rise could begin to challenge its livability. Addressing these urban needs is not just important -it's essential for sustaining the city's momentum and quality of life.
Looking to 2030, Telangana's comprehensive strategy involves scaling globally integrated consortium models, institutionalizing specialized education initiatives such as the upcoming Life Sciences University, and embedding artificial intelligence across all sectors. These coordinated efforts aim to elevate Hyderabad from regional prominence to global leadership in innovation.Ultimately, Hyderabad's GCC narrative is not just aneconomic growth story. It reflects a strategic reorientation of global value chains toward innovation, collaboration, and foresight. As Dr Gandhi concludes, 'Telangana has an opportunity to set global benchmarks. If Hyderabad maintains its momentum, it will not only transform the local economy but also redefine India's role in the global innovation landscape.'
(This article is jointly brought to you by World Trade Center Shamshabad & Future City and Healthark, as part of a knowledge series supporting Telangana's aspiration to become a $1 trillion economy)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
City mustard oil mill preserves Gandhian ideals
1 2 Ranchi: A shop-cum-mustard oil mill in capital's bustling Main Road area, which might be easily overlooked due to its modest appearance, stands as a living testament to India's freedom movement. Shyam Kishor Sahu established Gramudyog Bhandar in 1938 in response to Mahatma Gandhi's call to revive small-scale industries and promote self-reliance. At a time when imported goods dominated Indian markets, the mill churned out mustard oil, becoming both a source of livelihood and a symbol of the Swadeshi movement. Shyam ran the shop for 61 years, until his death in 1999. Since then, Shyam's son Narayan Prasad Sahu has been running the shop. "In 1934, Gandhiji called for re-establishing small industries across the country so that Indians get an opportunity to earn their livelihood. He set up a mustard oil mill in Wardha as an example. Disciples of Gandhi, my parents stayed at his Wardha ashram for years. My father returned to Ranchi and established the mill in 1938. As India celebrated its 79th Independence Day on Friday, the shop stands tall as a symbol of courage, patriotism, and ideals that dreamt of a free nation," septuagenarian Narayan, who is a physician, said. A plaque bearing Gandhi's wishes adorns the walls of the shop. During his visit to present-day Jharkhand to attend the 1940 session of the Indian National Congress held in Ramgarh, Gandhi stopped by the store and penned on a piece of paper, 'Iss Bhandar ki unnati ho' (May this store prosper), a message that continues to echo the shop's golden past. Shyam was jailed several times by the British, but his commitment to serve the country remained undeterred. "The shop was never just about selling oil. My father used the profits to support the movement, funding meetings, rallies, and helping fellow freedom fighters. Steeped in history, our shop aims to uphold and nurture Gandhi's ideals. I strive to preserve my father's legacy without altering its essence. The only change is that where bulls once churned the oil, machines have taken their place," Narayan said. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
The Hindu
7 hours ago
- The Hindu
Political Line newsletter: Cow Economy, and Diplomacy
Culture influences market and diplomacy. But how much is too much on this count? A slice of the stalemate in trade talks between India and the U.S. is related to the U.S. demand for opening up India's farm sector. The U.S. wants to export more of its dairy and poultry products to India. India resists this demand. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he would make personal sacrifices, if required, to ensure that farmers are protected. The proportion of population dependent on agriculture reveals one of the most striking differences between India and the United States, highlighting their vastly different economic structures and development stages. India has nearly half of its workforce engaged in agriculture, while the United States has only less than two percent directly employed in farming — representing a 32-fold difference in agricultural employment dependency. In India's case, agriculture contributes roughly 18 percent of GDP but nearly half of the population is dependent on it. Farmers are a powerful political constituency in both India and the United States. Food is also a question of national security. Post-Covid fears related to self-sufficiency in critical areas have further strengthened the case for national food markets insulated from global disruptions. India's resistance to allowing American farm produce in its market rests on three reasons. The first, as mentioned above, is that too many people are dependent on agriculture, and opening up the sector to American products could render them vulnerable. The second is national security. The third concerns apparently cultural reasons — American cows may be fed meat products such as chicken waste, and this is unacceptable to India. Milk and other products from a cow whose food chain is not clearly plant-based do not meet Indian standards. Whether such determination is consistently applied across all milk produced within India is beside the point. Cultural reasons are relevant to market decisions in all societies. For instance, some Muslim countries or shops may not sell pork; among the GCC countries, pork is available in the UAE and Bahrain, while in others it is not. In large parts of India now, beef is legally banned; in many parts, such as southern India, West Bengal, and the northeastern states, it is widely consumed by all social groups including Hindus. Cultural barriers to global trade are not new in India. Crossing the seas was once taboo — Gandhi had to do penance to be readmitted to his Modh Vaniya caste, which had ostracised him for doing so. Of the three issues at play in trade in agriculture, perhaps the easiest to change is the competency of the sector. But the cultural politics around the cow and the requirements of the agriculture sector often come into conflict. At least 20 out of 28 states have some form of laws to protect cows, which effectively translates into restrictions on the trade and transportation of cattle, including buffaloes. In the last decade or so, many states have enforced these laws aggressively, and vigilantes targeting even legal cattle trade often go scot-free. Simultaneously, a whole network of rent-seeking has emerged in the guise of cow protection, as the state spends massive amounts to shelter unproductive cows that farmers do not want to keep. It is not the case that meat production has ended; India's export of buffalo meat has been growing in the last three years at around four percent annually. What has happened is that cattle and leather trade have been pushed into a grey zone of legality, inflicting costs and losses for all involved and creating new rent-seeking opportunities. You can read about a sample of such restrictions here. Farmers are paying a huge price for this — on the one hand, the difficulty in disposing unproductive cattle, and on the other, the problem of free-roaming cattle destroying their crops. Cow protection in India was linked historically to farming practices of an earlier era. Those factors have changed due to technology and other developments. Yet, productivity in India's agriculture sector remains entangled in the religious association many people have with cows. The cow has long functioned as a symbol in Hindu-Muslim rivalry in the subcontinent. Hindu leaders such as Dayananda Saraswati made cow protection a tool for popular consolidation antagonistic to Muslims in the 19th century. Some Muslim leaders, such as Pir Abu Bakr in Bengal in the early 20th century, argued that cow sacrifice was an essential practice of Islam. Whether cow sacrifice is indeed an essential practice of Islam has been the subject of several litigations in independent India as well. While India grapples with global uncertainties created by political and technological upheavals, it might also make sense to review its priorities at home. The Fear of the Future People Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now raised the spectre of a demographic threat to India in his Independence Day speech. He said there was a conspiracy to change the demographic profile of India. You can read The Hindu editorial on this speech here. Does demographic composition determine the character of a nation? Leaving that question for a future discussion, here are some quick adjacent thoughts. Variations in population growth across communities and geographies pose challenges for governance and national identity. It is one thing to say that everyone is an individual citizen regardless of social location, faith, or ethnicity. But India's governance structure acknowledges the principle of group identities while providing special protections for religious and linguistic minorities, Dalits, backward classes, tribes, etc. Collective identities are not anathema to India's constitutional scheme; in fact, they are central to it. Political contestations have historically been framed in India around the numerical strength of communities. That history warrants discussion separately, but to cite a well known example, the 15% and 7.5% reservations for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities, respectively, were based on their proportion in the population. As the proportion of their population changes, so will their representation. This will be among the issues in the next delimitation of parliamentary constituencies in India. Currently, there are two distinct divergences in population growth in India. First, the north-central regions have higher birth rates than peninsular and western India. Second, Muslims have a higher birth rate than Hindus. Among Hindus, upper castes have lower birth rates compared to other groups. While the BJP and its supporters try to highlight the Hindu-Muslim divergence in population growth, many others, particularly parties in the South, are more worried about the regional divergence in population growth. It is this regional divergence that makes the next delimitation an unsettling prospect for many regions. Population management has to be a secular task, and all communities should participate in it. While the BJP constantly talks up an Islamic demographic threat, there are Muslim actors who acknowledge and even amplify it. Last year, a Muslim Minister in West Bengal said Muslim population was growing fast and would soon become a majority. The ruling Trinamool Congress distanced itself from the statement. Federalism Tract: Notes on Diversity This article by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin discusses how India is home to many nationalities and emphasizes the importance of linguistic diversity as a defining feature of India. It argues that in a true federal system, states should not have to protest, litigate, or plead for their rightful share of revenues. Governors are taking their role as chancellors of State universities too seriously, which is roiling the higher education sector. Read our editorial on the ongoing conflicts between Governors and State governments over university governance here. The drive against unauthorised immigrants from Bangladesh is creating rifts within India, as any Bengali-speaking individual can end up as a target of police action.
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Hyd & B'luru bagged 50% of tech sector leasing in H1 of 2025 driven by GCC boom
1 2 Hyderabad: Even as the tech sector continues to dominate India's Grade A office space market, along with large-sized deals of over 1 lakh sq ft, Hyderabad, along with India's Silicon Valley—Bengaluru, retained their position as the top drivers of tech sector leasing in the first half of 2025 (H1 2025) thanks to the GCC boom. The two top IT hubs accounted for nearly half (5.3 million sq ft) of the total 10.8 million sq ft of office space absorbed by the tech sector in H1 2025, according to realty consulting firm Colliers. While Bengaluru clinched the largest chunk of 28% with 3 million sq ft, Hyderabad was second with a 21% share or 2.3 million sq ft of the total office space leasing by tech companies in H1 2025 across the top seven cities. The two were followed by Delhi-NCR, Chennai, and Pune with 1.6 million sq ft (15%), 1.5 million sq ft (14%), and 1.2 million sq ft (11%) in H1. In 2024, Bengaluru had a 34% share of the total 16.6 million sq ft tech leasing in the top markets with 5.7 million sq ft, while Hyderabad had a 25% share with 4.2 million sq ft. In 2022 too, which clocked the highest tech sector leasing since 2020. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad | Gold Rates Today in Hyderabad | Silver Rates Today in Hyderabad Colliers said while Bengaluru continues to be the epicentre of India's tech sector thanks to its deep talent pool, mature IT ecosystem, and robust office infrastructure, Hyderabad is beefing up its position as a major tech centre in India and globally on account of its competitive costs, supportive govt, and high-quality office space. "The tech sector continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience, even amid global uncertainties and workforce adjustments. Since 2020, tech occupiers leased close to 85 million sq ft of conventional office space across the top seven cities and accounted for the bulk of the large-sized transactions. In H1 2025 alone, the sector drove 43% of the large-sized transactions," Arpit Mehrotra, Managing Director, Office Services, Colliers India, said. "Despite current headwinds, we expect technology occupiers to maintain the leasing momentum throughout 2025 and fuel commercial real estate in India, mainly supported by the expansion of GCCs. Meanwhile, a strong IT talent pool and cost arbitrage will continue to be the differentiating factors for the Indian office market," Mehrotra added. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Happy Krishna Janmashtami Wishes ,, messages , and quotes !
