Advantage India: Global Capability Centres (GCCs)
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What do Google, IBM, Intel, UBS, Deutsche Bank, SAP, ArcelorMittal, PepsiCo, Wells Fargo, and Heineken have in common?They are all relocating their global capability centres (GCCs), either partially or entirely, from Eastern Europe to India.Google is transferring its software engineering and quality assurance teams from Kraków to India. Likewise, IBM is relocating cloud services positions from Warsaw. Intel is expanding its engineering activities in India. UBS and Deutsche Bank are consolidating their technology, risk, and compliance divisions in Pune, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. SAP downsized its operations in Eastern Europe while increasing recruitment in Bengaluru and Gurgaon. Manufacturing giants such as ArcelorMittal, consumer names like PepsiCo, and banking entities such as Wells Fargo are setting up or expanding their operations in India.The Global Capability Center (GCC), also known as the Global In-house Center (GIC) or Captive Center, is a strategically situated, entirely owned unit of multinational corporations (MNCs) that performs specialised services such as IT, finance, R&D, and customer support. GCCs use global talent pools and innovative technologies to reinforce their internal capabilities and boost business transformation. GCCs are significant for achieving cost savings, increasing collaboration between parent companies and their offshore affiliates, and accessing talent pools. Unlike typical outsourcing organisations, since GCCs are part of the parent organisation, they are integrated into the company's processes and provide better control, seamless alignment, and ownership of work and intellectual property.India has evolved into the destination of choice for global corporations as they seek to expand, innovate and pursue strategic R&D to capitalise on its dynamic ecosystem. With more than 1,800 GCCs established and a market value exceeding $46 billion, India has consolidated its position as a global hub for GCCs. India, home to more than half of the world's GCCs, offers unmatched advantages, including a sizable skilled workforce, cost-effective operations, and cutting-edge technological infrastructure. India is no longer known for cost arbitrage alone; instead, the world perceives the country as a hotbed of innovative ideas, deep domain knowledge, and top-tier talent. The country is widely recognized for its adoption of emerging technologies, innovation-fostering ecosystem, and value creation, besides operational excellence. With a rapidly booming digital economy, world-class infrastructure, and steady government incentives, India's impressive growth in GCCs highlights the country's progress in the international economy. India's income from GCCs has increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8%, even with the worldwide economic downturn that affected industrial and economic expansion in the last four years, According to industry experts, India is expected to have an estimated 2,400 GCC companies by 2030 that are likely to generate over 4.5 million jobs and have a market value of approximately $100 billion.The GCCs in India are transforming how the world operates in the healthcare, retail, BFSI, and technology sectors. The country has evolved into a crucible for AI-powered enterprise transformation, strong R&D, and cross-industry digital acceleration. What were earlier seen as back-end support centres, India's GCCs are now taking on high-value work such as product engineering, artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, financial services, and analytics. India offers a better cost-to-skill ratio, especially in areas like AI, analytics, and digital transformation.Over 1.9 million employees are employed in GCCs, with more than 82,000 of them in tier-II and III cities, who support innovation and operational excellence. India's tier-II and III cities are becoming more popular with GCCs because of an evolving ecosystem, government aid, and state incentives. This shift opens new ways for inclusive development, creates jobs outside of big cities, and eases the burden of infrastructure constraints in big cities.Multinational corporations (MNCs) are relocating their GCCs to India in unprecedented numbers as geopolitical tensions escalate and Eastern Europe grapples with surging salaries and scalability constraints. Amid rising operational costs, talent saturation, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, MNCs are shifting from countries like Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic to India, where strong digital skills and lower salaries make it cheaper to deliver quality results. Hiring talented digital and technology employees in India is about 50% cheaper than in cities like Krakow, Bucharest, or Prague. India has a larger pool of skilled workers at a lower cost than Eastern Europe, especially in fields like AI, cybersecurity, and analytics. The GCC shift is more about accessing India's talent pool and its ability to handle complex and strategic tasks, according to experts.Setting up a GCC in India by MNCs has emerged into a strategic imperative for ensuring a global growth trajectory. There has been an exponential shift in India's GCCs, from labour arbitrage to capability arbitrage. India is not a conventional offshore hub; it is a high-value innovation epicentre as it offers an exceptional blend of deep technology knowledge, digital-first assets, policy-driven incentives, and an unrivalled reservoir of STEM talent. India's AI-infused GCCs, strong regulatory frameworks, and hybrid work ecosystems are likely to make businesses more flexible, supply chains more resilient, and industries more innovative. To extract maximum strategic value, global enterprises must adopt a future-ready, AI-enabled, ESG-compliant, and ecosystem-integrated GCC strategy that seamlessly aligns with India's rapidly advancing industrial and digital transformation landscape. Companies that take advantage of India's Industry 4.0 developments, generative AI adoption, and policy-driven innovation hubs will not only achieve superior operational efficiencies but will also emerge as global technological innovators and market leaders.
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