‘Hyderabad powering India’s GCC growth’: Telangana IT minister at Mahindra University policy centre launch
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.
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.
Key Details
- 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.
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.
Key Details
- 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.
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.
Key Details
- 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.
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.
Key Details
- 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.
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.
- 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.