Policy and the Multi-City GCC Grid: Catalyzing India’s Next Wave of Global Capability

In this new multi-city reality, the role of policy is undergoing a critical shift. Mr Aggarwal posed a provocative question to the audience: Is policy a key decision driver for global firms setting up a GCC? His analytical answer was that while attractive policies can certainly help, they are currently secondary to fundamental market factors: Talent availability and physical infrastructure remain the primary determinants of a location choice.

Therefore, the new role for policy must be to elevate itself from a ‘nice-to-have’ enabler to a core driver of strategic investment. It must move beyond announcements and translate from paper into palpable, ground-level impact that directly supports the complex operations of a distributed GCC network. To achieve this, NASSCOM highlighted three pillars where focused policy action can create maximum momentum.

1. Talent at 100x Scale: Solving the ‘Drop in the Ocean’ Problem

The most significant policy challenge is talent. While India boasts a vast workforce, the scale of demand from the GCC ecosystem, which is already at 1.9 million professionals and poised for massive growth, is enormous. Mr Aggarwal pointed out the current skilling efforts are often just a “drop in the ocean” relative to the need, mentioning the high-level meeting with the Finance Minister to drive this agenda.

The path forward requires a massive, reconciled, and systemic effort. This includes:

• Massive Skilling: Deepening and scaling initiatives like Future Skills Prime to create a recognised standard for new-age skills.
• Academia Linkage: Forging stronger, industry-driven links with universities to ensure the curriculum is constantly referenced against in-demand role families (e.g., cyber operations, model governance).
• Labour Clarity: Addressing concerns, such as the need for predictable labour clarity that matches how modern service centers operate.

2. Enabling Differentiated Cities: Holistically Building the Emerging Hubs

The shift to a multi-city grid signals the opportunity for emerging hubs like Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, and Kochi to become specialized centers of excellence. The policy framework for GCCs must actively enable these differentiated cities to play their unique roles, providing a clear signal for investment.

This is not just about real estate; it requires a holistic ecosystem:

• Targeted Infrastructure: Ensuring world-class physical and digital infrastructure.
• Tech Ecosystem: Fostering local startups, incubators, and collaboration spaces that the GCCs can plug into for co-innovation.
• Policy Signal: Leveraging policy to signal commitment to these emerging centers, making them predictable, attractive, and sustainable alternatives to saturated Tier-1 cities.

3. Frictionless Taxation: Creating Momentum, Not Friction

In an ecosystem where India is dominating high-end, complex work, R&D, AI, and complex data governance, the tax environment is crucial. GCCs operating on a cost-plus model require tax certainty. Mr Aggarwal noted the current tension between the high-end work being done and the potential tax risk associated with it, particularly around transfer pricing.

NASSCOM’s work is focused on leveraging tax policy to create momentum, not friction. This involves:

• Reforming Safe Harbour: Advocating for the recalibration of the Safe Harbour regime in transfer pricing, including realigning prescribed margins and raising turnover thresholds.
• Predictability: Working to enhance the certainty and predictability of the tax framework so that global firms can plan their long-term growth and balance sheet operations in India with confidence.

The Global Capability Center story in India is a testament to the nation’s immense talent and its evolving tech-economic environment. Mr. Aggarwal described the transition to a multi-city grid as a “happy problem,” a challenge born of unprecedented success and scale.

Sustaining this momentum requires a singular, aligned vision that NASSCOM terms the “India Lens”. This lens necessitates seamless coordination between the central government, various state governments, and foreign missions to ensure that policy is consistent, predictable, and fully supportive of the GCC ecosystem’s next evolution. By successfully implementing the three policy pillars of scaling talent, enabling differentiated cities, and ensuring frictionless taxation, India can transition from simply hosting the world’s GCCs to becoming the world’s most trusted multi-city platform, meeting and exceeding its ambitious growth targets for the decade.