By Lakshmana Venkat Kuchi
At a time when India is making efforts to become a hub of global innovation and leadership for international enterprises, India Inc has come out with a blueprint for states to lay out a pragmatic, forward-looking and investment-friendly roadmap to exploit the full potential Global Capability Centres present.
Leading chamber of industries, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Sunday came out with a model state policy on GCCs to build the next generation of global enterprise hubs in the country.
According to Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, “The extraordinary rise of GCCs in India has been one of the most important developments in our economic journey over the past two decades. But to sustain leadership and expand our share of global value chains, states must step up with clear, competitive, and innovation-oriented policies.”
Commenting the Model State GCC Policy of CII, he said, “It offers a ready framework to guide this effort – helping states design their own strategies, accelerate GCC growth beyond the metros, and generate large-scale, high-quality jobs. This is about ensuring that India’s knowledge capital is inclusive, future-ready, and globally benchmarked.”
The policy assumes significance because nearly 95% of India’s 1,800-plus GCCs are currently concentrated in just six Tier-1 cities. While these metros have been the engines of growth, future expansion will depend on the ability of states to unlock potential in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. The CII model policy focuses on enabling these emerging hubs, diversifying the geographic footprint of GCCs, and building state-level ecosystems that are attractive to global enterprises.
The release of this policy is intended to provide states with actionable measures across infrastructure, incentives, regulatory frameworks, and talent development, with the ultimate objective of creating seamless, resilient, and globally competitive ecosystems. Importantly, the model policy has been shaped by best practices from successful state-level initiatives in India, combined with global benchmarking of leading GCC destinations.
Need balanced GCC growth across India
While the national framework provides the overarching direction and vision, it is the states that will ultimately determine how quickly and effectively India can scale up GCCs in terms of size, scope, and sophistication. Which is why, Banerjee said,“States today are the frontline drivers of India’s competitiveness. With this model policy, we are equipping them with a toolkit to attract global corporations, nurture local ecosystems, and ensure balanced and sustainable growth of GCCs across the country.”
The CII model policy calls for the establishment of State-level Facilitation Cells dedicated to GCCs, serving as a single point of contact for investors and enterprises. These cells would streamline approvals for land, utilities, and infrastructure, while also acting as investor support desks to resolve issues in real time.
It also suggested targeted fiscal and regulatory incentives for GCCs that go beyond generic IT/ITES schemes. These include viability gap funding for integrated infrastructure projects such as smart mobility and transit corridors, time-bound tax holidays, and exemptions on customs duties for imported R&D equipment and technology tools.
There is also a need for dedicated digital infrastructure investment at the state level, including compute subsidies for AI/ML model training, government-backed service-level agreements to guarantee uninterrupted connectivity, and incentives for setting up edge data centres in Tier-2 and Tier-3 locations.
By embedding digital backbone elements into local infrastructure policy, states can ensure that GCCs in emerging cities operate at par with global hubs.
The CII model policy also advocated states to launch joint accelerator and venture-building programmes that connect GCCs with local start-ups and research institutions. This approach will allow multinational enterprises to co-create solutions in frontier technologies such as quantum computing, ESG-aligned applications like digital twins for energy efficiency, and enterprise SaaS with export potential. And of course, reliance and focus on Green infrastructure must become a standard operating procedure, the CII policy guidelines said.
Creating Champion Cities
Capex support should be offered for facilities certified under internationally recognised standards such as LEED or GRIHA, ensuring low-carbon, resource-efficient operations. This would not only align with India’s sustainability goals but also make state ecosystems more attractive to ESG-conscious global investors.
The CII also suggested that the states develop locational capabilities by integrating housing, smart mobility, and civic infrastructure into their GCC planning frameworks. This means convergence of multiple state schemes—whether in affordable housing, multi-modal transport, or smart city projects—to create holistic “Champion Cities” where GCCs can thrive alongside strong quality of life indices for professionals and their families.
Now, creation of state-specific data security and IP facilitation frameworks aligned with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act but tailored to local conditions will greatly facilitate smooth GCC operations. “Sandbox environments, accelerated intellectual property approvals, and sector-specific data trust models are suggested to give states an edge in hosting data-intensive GCCs such as those working in AI, fintech, or healthcare analytics,” the CII model policy said.
Incentives for high-performance computing clusters and federated compute pools under public-private partnership models should be offered and the states should co-invest in these digital assets alongside the industry, ensuring that their cities are not only competitive today but also future-proofed for tomorrow’s technology demands, it said.
Stressing the importance of branding and outreach by states, in partnership with CII, the industry body said cooperation should be stepped up in developing city-specific GCC value propositions, participating in international roadshows, and building sector-focused campaigns targeting under-penetrated markets such as Japan, the Nordics, and the Middle East.
GCCs can transform india’s economic trajectory
Last, but not the least, the CII said the states must erect and institutionalise continuous monitoring and feedback mechanisms so that they can adapt to the fast-changing needs of global enterprises. For this, the CII suggested a multi-tier architecture involving state nodal departments, industry partners, and innovation agencies can ensure that regulatory issues are addressed promptly, incentive schemes are evaluated in real time, and course corrections are swiftly implemented.
These suggestions will surely make the states can ensure expansion of GCCs in their territories but also build them to rival the best in the world.
The CII official, Banerjee said in conclusion, “The model policy makes it clear that the next wave of GCC growth must be geographically inclusive. States that act early and decisively will be the ones to reap the benefits of high-quality employment, deepened innovation ecosystems, and stronger integration into global value chains. CII stands ready to partner with states in operationalising these recommendations, through joint task forces, investment promotion campaigns, and skill development initiatives.”
“The GCC sector has the potential to transform India’s economic trajectory, not only through jobs and exports but by positioning India as a global hub of intellectual property, digital innovation, and leadership talent, he added.
CII’s Model State GCC Policy has already attracted interest from several states, with some governments exploring adoption and localisation of the recommendations.
“The time has come for India to move decisively from a few metropolitan GCC hubs to a pan-India network of knowledge centres. This will not only strengthen India’s position as the preferred global destination for GCCs but also ensure that the benefits of this sector touch every region of our country,” the CII official added.
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