Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday stated that India's ambition to build an ecosystem supporting around 5,000 Global Capability Centres (GCCs) by 2030 is both realistic and achievable. Speaking at the CII National GCC Business Summit 2026 in New Delhi, she highlighted the rapid growth of GCCs in the country.
Current GCC Landscape
India currently hosts more than 2,100 GCCs, employing 23 lakh professionals and generating nearly USD 100 billion in annual revenues, according to Sitharaman. She noted that over 500 Forbes Global 2000 companies have established GCCs in India, and in many sectors, multinational corporations are more likely to build their next capability centre in India than anywhere else. The minister described India's GCC ecosystem as perhaps the world's largest organised knowledge export.
Rapid Growth Trajectory
Sitharaman pointed out that in 2024, one new GCC was set up in India every week, and now the pace has accelerated to one new GCC every day. She emphasised that the competitiveness of multinational enterprises is becoming inseparable from the capabilities they have built in India. India now hosts more than half of the world's GCCs, which are being entrusted with advanced functions such as Artificial Intelligence, Engineering Research and Development, Cybersecurity, Digital Platforms, Product Architecture, Financial Innovation, and Enterprise-wide transformation.
Government Policy Support
The Finance Minister stressed that the government recognises the need for an enabling policy ecosystem to support the next phase of GCC growth, focusing on reducing friction, improving certainty, and supporting long-term investments. She highlighted several measures announced in the Union Budget 2026-27 that directly strengthen India's attractiveness as a global capability destination.
Key Budget Measures for GCCs
The budget introduced a unified safe harbour regime for IT/IT-enabled services, simplifying transfer pricing compliance for GCCs. The safe harbour threshold was enhanced from Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, bringing many more enterprises under a simplified compliance framework. Additionally, the government introduced a fast-track advance pricing agreement (APA) mechanism to provide greater tax certainty. Continued support for digital public infrastructure, skilling, urban infrastructure, and multimodal logistics was also announced, creating stronger innovation ecosystems.
