Approximately half of Fortune 500 companies have set up their Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday, adding that GCCs currently employ nearly 2.16 million professionals and the number is expected to go up to 2.8 million by 2030.
“All the GCCs in India employ nearly 2.16 million professionals. The CAGR at which it has grown is 11 per cent over the last five years. And this number of 2.16 million is expected to go to 2.80 million by 2030. This is a very conservative number,” she said at Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII’s) event named ‘The GCC Opportunity in India’.
Over 32 per cent of global GCC talent is currently based in India, she said adding that the country’s GCC sector contributes $68 billion as direct gross value addition (GVA), that is, around 1.6 per cent of the national GDP. “By 2030, the gross value addition from GCCs could potentially range between $150 billion to $200 billion. That is the scope we have before us and the potential we can see,” she said.
The setup rate of engineering research & development GCCs has grown 1.3 times faster than the overall GCC setup over the last 5 years, indicating a clear shift towards high-value-added work in India, the minister said. “…they are not just for product development, it is not services in operation and it is not just delivery, complex work that requires a significant understanding of the business context and the imperatives. The setup rate, and this is again one interesting detail —the setup rate of engineering research and development, the GCCs have grown 1.3 times faster than the overall GCC setup over the last five years,” she said.
Sitharaman underlined that one new GCC was set up per week at least on an average in the year 2024. “A similar number is expected this year as well,” she added. She said the government will take all supportive measures for the GCCs to set up their base in India and be more inviting to the rest of them to come here.
The Finance Minister also pointed out that India’s talent pool accounts for 28 per cent of the global Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce and 23 per cent of the global software engineering talent. “In the last decade, 7 new IITs & 16 new IIITs have been opened across the country. India has among the highest proportion of female STEM graduates, at 42.7 per cent. It is important because there is approximately 35 per cent female participation in the GCC workforce,” she said.
Talent is more cost-effective in India compared to other countries, she said. “It is estimated that it costs 30-50 per cent less than the US, UK and Australia. Over the past decade, India’s GCC ecosystem has matured significantly, moving beyond execution to become centres of strategic leadership and transformation…global roles within Indian GCCs are expected to increase from 6,500 today to over 30,000 by 2030, supported by robust in-house training programs that nurture global-ready leadership,” she said.
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