Kerala seems to be slowly emerging as a hotspot for Global Capability Centres (GCCs), with over 30 international IT and ITeS companies reportedly showing interest in setting up operations in the state. Among the interested players are Comply, Giant Eagle and Micropolis – names that could soon be part of Kerala’s growing tech landscape.
The discussions, according to state officials, are being facilitated by a special consortium of global consulting firms, put together after the Invest Kerala Global Summit held in February. The consortium includes 12 players such as Everest Group, Avasant and ANSR.
While some of the firms are new entrants looking at India for the first time, others are existing multinationals exploring options to expand their presence. Kerala IT Secretary Sambasiva Rao noted that the idea of the consortium stemmed from the February summit and seems to have made a difference.
“There are already a bunch of companies who’ve established their GCCs here. Their presence itself is a sort of validation,” he said.
Technopark CEO Sanjeev Nair pointed out that Kerala is already home to several major firms running GCCs. These include IBM, Allianz, EY, Nissan Digital, Equifax, NOV, Accenture, Guidehouse, H&R Block, Icon, Safran, Insight and RM Education, among others.
“There’s been a quiet but consistent growth in Kerala’s GCC landscape. The infrastructure is here. The talent is here. We are ready for more,” he said.
The GCC model thrives on talent access, cost-efficiency and infrastructure. Kerala, according to Nair, ticks most of these boxes.
“Our IT parks in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode are bustling. We have an impressive talent pipeline that stems from close academia-industry collaborations. Institutions like APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Digital University Kerala, ICT Academy of Kerala and MuLearn are all part of that ecosystem,” he said.
The state is also seeing interest in product engineering roles, with firms gradually moving beyond traditional outsourcing and support models.
One of Kerala’s other advantages appears to be its startup culture. Through the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the state has built a network of innovators and entrepreneurs who often feed into or complement the larger IT ecosystem. This has reportedly helped make the state more appealing to tech firms looking at innovation alongside service delivery.
Kerala’s social infrastructure is also a point of interest. High literacy, human development indicators, and widespread internet access all contribute to the state’s positioning as a relatively stable and liveable tech hub. That said, how much of this converts into actual investments over the coming months remains to be seen.
For those unfamiliar, a Global Capability Centre is essentially a branch or office set up by a multinational company in a location known for its talent base. These centres handle a variety of tasks — from software development to data analysis, finance operations, customer support and even R&D.
Often located in countries like India for cost advantage, GCCs are no longer just back offices. Many now play a strategic role in their parent company’s global operations, sometimes even leading product development or innovation from afar.
