India had more than 1,700 global capability centres (GCCs) and their export revenue rose more than 40 percent from the previous year to $65 billion in the FY24, a report has said.
The fast-growing sector employed over 19 million people during the period, the report released by IT industry body Nasscom and consulting firm Zinnov on September 11 said, terming India as the GCC Capital of the world.
In FY23, India’s GCCs’ revenue was up 11.4 percent at $46 billion, with an employee count of over 16.6 lakh people, data from the Economic Survey 2023-24 shows.
“The last five years have seen a rapid expansion in the GCC ecosystem and India remains well-positioned for future growth through prioritisation on skills development, cyber security, and progressive policy frameworks,” the report said.
Between FY19 and FY24, more than 400 new GCCs were set up in the country, the report said. At a time when artificial intelligence skills and demand are gaining prominence, the report showed that the talent pool in India is over 120,000 such professionals.
A GCC is a dedicated offshore unit a company sets up in a foreign country to in-source IT and related business functions.
The average GCC talent has expanded by almost 24 percent since FY19 and is estimated at over 1,130 employees in FY24, the report said.
Over 90 percent of the GCCs operate as multi-functional centres, supporting technology, operations, and product engineering.
The information technology (IT) and business process management (BPM) sectors grew faster in percentage terms but on a smaller base.
GCCs within the IT segment grew 30 percent to $9.7 billion, while the BPM segment grew about 27 percent to $10.7 billion in FY23.
The Economic Survey said hiring in the IT sector slowed down considerably in the last financial year. Even if there was no further decline, it was unlikely to pick up significantly, it said.
“While the initial wave of GCC growth was driven by large enterprises, more mid-market enterprises and unicorns are also setting up GCCs in India,” the report said.
Around 40 global unicorns have an India GCC presence as of 2024 but the Americas continue their dominance with over 1,000 centres.
GCCs are also expanding in tier 2 and 3 cities, with over 220 units in cities such as Ahmedabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Coimbatore.
Coming of Age
The report highlights that almost 53 percent of the GCCs are in the portfolio and transformation hub stages.
ER&D GCCs, contributing $36.4 billion in revenue, have grown 1.3 times faster than the overall GCC growth rate, indicating a shift towards higher-value work, the report said.
Global roles in India have expanded over the past five years, with more than 6,500 such positions. This includes more than 1,100 women leaders.
Nearly a quarter of global engineering roles are now based in India, with industries like aerospace, defence and semiconductor focusing on next-generation technologies. At a time when the push is being made at a policy level, semiconductor firms are increasingly establishing product teams in India.
Outlook
The report said that the GCC market in India is estimated to grow to $99-105 billion by 2030, with the number of GCCs reaching 2,100-2,200 and headcount rising to 25-28 lakh.
“They (GCCs) can unlock new growth by monetizing “India to India” services, leveraging local market insights, and expanding their domestic footprint,” the report said.
More mature GCCs are developing expertise in full-stack development, AI, IoT, and cybersecurity to create advanced solutions for global and emerging markets.
“As we look ahead to 2030, we expect that 70% of Fortune 500 companies will be expanding their presence to India. The writing is on the wall – India is no longer just participating in the global tech narrative – we’re authoring it,” Zinnov CEO Pari Natarajan said in the release.
