What Happened
- The Telangana IT Minister, speaking at a Mahindra Technology event in Hyderabad, highlighted the city's emergence as a premier destination for Global Capability Centres (GCCs), noting that Hyderabad hosted approximately 20% of India's GCCs and attracted the highest number of new GCC setups (40 new GCCs) in 2025.
- The minister credited Telangana's targeted policy framework — including T-AIM (Telangana AI Mission), single-window clearances, plug-and-play infrastructure, and talent development partnerships — for driving GCC growth.
- India as a whole hosts over 1,800 GCCs as of late 2025, employing nearly 2 million professionals and generating $64.6 billion in revenue in FY2024.
- NASSCOM projects India's GCC ecosystem will expand to 2,100–2,200 centres by 2030, generating $99–105 billion in revenues.
Static Topic Bridges
What Are Global Capability Centres (GCCs)?
Global Capability Centres (GCCs), formerly known as Global In-house Centres (GICs) or captive centres, are offshore or nearshore units established by multinational corporations (MNCs) in countries like India to perform high-value functions such as technology development, data analytics, finance, supply chain management, and research and development. Unlike Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), which involves outsourcing work to a third party, GCCs are wholly owned subsidiaries of the parent MNC.
- India hosts more than half of the world's total GCCs — over 1,800 as of 2025.
- GCCs employ nearly 2 million professionals in India and generated $64.6 billion in revenue in FY2024.
- Key GCC hubs in India: Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Mumbai, Gurugram.
- GCCs have evolved from cost-arbitrage centres to innovation and R&D hubs — contributing to AI, chip design, and product development.
- NASSCOM projects GCC revenues will reach $99–105 billion by 2030, with 2.5–2.8 million employees.
Connection to this news: Hyderabad's success in attracting GCCs demonstrates how state-level policy interventions — combined with talent availability — can position cities as preferred destinations in the global knowledge economy.
India's IT/BPM Sector and Its Policy Ecosystem
India's Information Technology and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) sector is the largest component of India's service exports, accounting for approximately $245 billion in revenue in FY2024. It employs over 5 million professionals directly. The sector's growth is enabled by a combination of policy frameworks including Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), and NASSCOM's advocacy.
- NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) is the apex industry body for India's IT sector; it does not regulate but facilitates and advocates.
- Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) was established in 1991 under the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) — it provides 100% EOU (Export Oriented Unit) status and associated tax benefits.
- Special Economic Zones (SEZs) under the SEZ Act, 2005 offer duty exemptions, tax holidays, and simplified regulatory procedures to IT companies.
- India's IT sector contributes approximately 7.5–8% to GDP.
- The "Digital India" programme (launched 2015) and "India Stack" (including Aadhaar, UPI) have created infrastructure enabling GCC growth.
Connection to this news: Hyderabad's GCC growth is partly attributable to SEZ availability, STPI units, and Telangana-specific incentive policies — reflecting how Centre-State policy coordination drives sectoral competitiveness.
Telangana's GCC Policy Framework
Telangana, with Hyderabad as its capital, has developed one of India's most proactive GCC-specific policy environments. The state's IT sector strategy is guided by the Telangana ICT Policy and targeted GCC incentives.
- Hyderabad hosts 355+ GCC centres, approximately 20% of India's total.
- Telangana AI Mission (T-AIM) provides AI-specific support for GCCs.
- The state offers plug-and-play infrastructure, single-window clearances, and tax incentive packages.
- Hyderabad and Bengaluru collectively account for nearly half of India's GCC office space leasing activity.
- 40 new GCCs were established in Hyderabad in 2025 — the highest for any Indian city.
- HITEC City (Hyderabad Information Technology and Engineering Consultancy City) is the primary GCC cluster.
Connection to this news: The IT minister's remarks reflect Telangana's deliberate "GCC capital" branding strategy, using high-profile events to signal to global MNCs that the state offers superior value propositions.
India Stack and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as GCC Enablers
India's Digital Public Infrastructure — comprising Aadhaar (identity), UPI (payments), DigiLocker (documents), and ONDC (commerce) — has created a unique enabling environment for GCCs focused on fintech, healthtech, and digital services. GCCs leverage India's DPI expertise to develop products for both Indian and global markets.
- India Stack is a set of open APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) built on DPI.
- UPI processes over 14 billion transactions per month (FY2024-25 data).
- Aadhaar has over 1.38 billion enrolments.
- G20 India Presidency (2023) promoted DPI as a global public good — several countries are adopting India Stack models.
- GCCs are increasingly contributing to DPI product development — fintech GCCs like those of JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank in India build on UPI/DPI infrastructure.
Connection to this news: India's unique DPI ecosystem is a differentiating factor for GCC attraction — Hyderabad's GCC growth is not merely about cost savings but about access to India's digital innovation environment.
Key Facts & Data
- India hosts over 1,800 GCCs as of late 2025 — more than half of the world's total.
- GCCs employ ~2 million professionals in India; revenue: $64.6 billion in FY2024.
- NASSCOM projects GCC revenues to reach $99–105 billion by 2030.
- Hyderabad hosts 355+ GCC centres — approximately 20% of India's total.
- 40 new GCCs set up in Hyderabad in 2025 — highest in India.
- India's IT-BPM sector: ~$245 billion revenue in FY2024; employs 5 million+ directly.
- IT sector contributes approximately 7.5–8% to India's GDP.
- STPI established in 1991 under MeitY; SEZ Act enacted in 2005.
- T-AIM = Telangana AI Mission; HITEC City is Hyderabad's primary GCC cluster.
- UPI: 14+ billion transactions/month; Aadhaar: 1.38 billion enrolments.