Visakhapatnam: The country’s Global Capability Centres (GCCs) have acquired a distinct Indian flavour with an impressive 50 percent of the GCCs operating in India and over half of the professionals in GCC outside India are of Indian origin, emphasised Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Delivering her keynote address at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s ‘Global Capability Centre’s (GCC) Business Summit: Model Policy on GCCs for states’,organised at Radisson Blu in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, she provided a comprehensive overview of the government’s strategic initiatives to promote India as the world’s leading hub for the GCCs.

Detailing the government’s approach, the Finance Minister described it as a ‘policy-led leadership’ designed to create a favourable environment for the GCCs.

Outlining three core pillars for India’s GCC growth such as investments in physical and digital infrastructure, education and skilling, and facilitative governance, she emphasised that the support extends beyond fiscal measures, focusing instead on fostering a robust ecosystem.

On the infrastructure front, Nirmala Sitharaman shared key statistics, noting that capital investment has increased from 1.7 per cent of GDP in 2013-14 to an effective 4.1 percent in 2024-25. This has led to the operationalisation of 88 new airports, 31,000-km of new rail tracks, and a 60 percent expansion of the national highway network, she highlighted.

For education and skilling, the Finance Minister said the government’s focus is on improving employability and creating industry-ready professionals. A significant new initiative, the Research, Development and Innovation (RPI) Scheme, has been launched with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore to encourage private sector scaling in strategic and sunrise domains.

Regarding governance, she highlighted significant reforms that have enhanced the ease of doing business. This includes introduction of simplified procedures like Spice Plus for company incorporation and C-PACE for accelerated corporate exits. She also noted the removal of over 42,000 unnecessary compliances and 1,500 archaic laws.

Further, the Finance Minister praised the role of cooperative federalism, stating that aligning national and state-level policies is key to the GCC sector’s success. She particularly commended Andhra Pradesh and the Chief Minister for his proactive approach, citing the state’s success in attracting a Google data center, and establishing a quantum and space research headquarters, which she described as a tangible result of leveraging state strengths to align with national priorities.

These combined efforts will not only cement India’s leadership in the GCC landscape but also contribute to innovation, job creation, and inclusive regional development, ultimately helping achieve the vision of Vikasit Bharat 2047, she underlined.

Addressing the valedictory session of the Global Capability Centre’s Business Summit, the Chief Minister invited GCC officials to set up the unit in Visakhapatnam, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said the best ecosystem prevails in the city to establish industries.

With industry-friendly policies plus speed of doing business, Andhra Pradesh government is ready to extend complete support to industrial growth with real time decision-making, the CM stressed.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reforms brought by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Naidu expressed confidence that India is going to emerge as the third largest economy in the world soon.

He said Andhra Pradesh is gifted with good connectivity and endowed with resources, including a long coastline. “A greenfield airport will be developed in Amaravati in addition to the existing airports at Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Tirupati and Kadapa. Bullet train has also been proposed through Andhra Pradesh connecting Hyderabad and Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata,” the CM informed.

The CM said the state government is focusing on developing Quantum valley with Artificial Intelligence and data lake. “At the same time, the focus is also on developing green energy and hydrogen. In addition, Rata Tata Innovation Hubs were set up at five centres in the state. Google data centre is coming up in Vizag. With the best combination of policy makers, industry and academics, the best eco system is prevailing in the state for establishment of industries,” the Chief Minister stated.

CII past president R Dinesh, CII task force chairman Gunjan Samtani, CII co chairman Romal Shetty and director general of CII Chandrajit Banerjee, chairman of CII, AP Murali Krishna Gannamani , among others, were present.