Govt Targets 5,000 Global Capability Centres by 2030: FM Sitharaman

New Delhi, Jul 10 (KNN) The Centre aims to build an ecosystem capable of supporting around 5,000 Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India by 2030, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman describing the goal as “realistic and achievable”.

Speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) GCC Business Summit 2026, Sitharaman said the target represents a step in a broader effort to strengthen India’s position as a leading global destination for GCCs. 

She noted that nearly two-thirds of companies in the Fortune Global 2000 are yet to establish such centres in India, calling it "one of the largest untapped investment opportunities before us," ANI reported.

India’s Expanding GCC Footprint

India currently hosts over 2,100 GCCs, employing around 23 lakh professionals and generating close to USD 100 billion in annual revenue. 

"More than five hundred Forbes Global 2000 companies have established GCCs in our country," she said, adding that "in many sectors, an MNC is now more likely to build its next capability centre in India than anywhere else."

The Finance Minister highlighted that multinational companies are increasingly choosing India for setting up new capability centres, driven by a shift in the global economy towards knowledge, technology and innovation-led growth.

"Today, the greatest competitive advantage lies in generating knowledge, applying technology and solving complex problems," she noted.

Shift Towards Innovation and AI

Sitharaman said the GCC ecosystem in India is evolving rapidly, with the pace of expansion accelerating in recent years. While one new centre was established every week in 2024, the current trend indicates nearly one new GCC being set up each day.

She noted that “more than half of new GCCs are now AI-first. Engineering Research & Development (ERD) has emerged as one of the fastest-growing capability areas,” adding that centres in India are increasingly taking on strategic roles, including global leadership and decision-making functions.

Policy Measures to Support Growth

The government has introduced several measures in the Union Budget 2026–27 to enhance India’s attractiveness as a GCC hub, the finance minister said. 

These include a unified safe harbour regime for IT and IT-enabled services, an increase in the safe harbour threshold, and a faster advance pricing agreement mechanism aimed at improving tax certainty and reducing compliance requirements.

She emphasised that these steps are intended to improve policy predictability and allow companies to focus more on innovation and value creation.

Role of States and Industry

"The response from our states has been encouraging, with at least 10 states having either announced or are developing dedicated GCC policies," she said, adding that differentiated state-level strategies would make India’s innovation ecosystem more resilient and globally competitive.

Calling on industry to contribute to the next phase of growth, Sitharaman urged companies to expand into smaller cities, collaborate more closely with academic institutions and move up the value chain. 

She noted that India's aspiration is "not merely to host the world's capability centres, but to shape the next-generation technologies, products and enterprises of the future."

(KNN Bureau)