GCC Tech Surge

INDIA’S INFOTECH SERVICES sector, led by TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Wipro, came of age in 1999 with the Y2K transition

- MINHAZ MERCHANT

Now nearly a quarter century later, a new inflection point is at hand.

Global Capability Centres (GCCs) are the next big IT services opportunity. Global Capability Centres are essentially R&D centres set up in India by global corporations. They employ high-end engineers and scientists to conduct a broad array of tasks from innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing to data analytics and cutting-edge financial solutions.

Nearly 2,000 international companies now have GCCs in India spread across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Noida. They employ over a million Indian engineers, scientists and researchers. The days of India being seen as a low-end outsourcing centre are long gone.

India produces over 6,00,000 engineers a year. They vary in quality but global clients reckon the top 20 per cent – over 1,20,000 new engineers a year – are world-class. That makes India the world’s R&D factory. Besides, the Indian engineers come at a fraction of the cost of their counterparts in the West and even Southeast Asia.

According to data from software industry body NASSCOM and consulting firm Zinnov, GCCs accounted for services exports valued at $45 billion in 2022-23. This compares to services exports of $57 billion by three leading IT services companies TCS, Infosys and Wipro. The gap is closing rapidly.