What Are Global Capability Centres (GCCs)?

Global Capability Centres are captive units established by multinational companies to handle specialized, high-value work for their global operations. Unlike traditional outsourcing vendors, GCCs are internal innovation hubs that drive technology development, R&D, design, analytics, and product innovation.

Think of them as the "brain centers" of global corporations where critical thinking, innovation, and strategic execution happen.

Why India Has Become the World's GCC Capital

India now hosts over 1,900 GCCs across diverse industries; aerospace and defense, automotive, pharmaceuticals, renewables, metals and mining, textiles, and increasingly, gems and jewelry. In just four years, India saw 400+ new GCC establishments and 1,100 expansions.

Three Key Advantages Drive This Growth

Exceptional Talent: India contributes 28% of the world's STEM workforce and 23% of global software engineering talent, highly skilled professionals capable of world-class R&D, product design, and innovation.

Innovation Ecosystem: Indian GCCs have evolved beyond back-office support. They now lead digital transformation, AI development, product engineering, and business strategy for global brands.

Strategic Economics: India uniquely combines cost efficiency with operational depth—companies can scale economically while executing complex, high-value work.

Maharashtra's GCC Policy 2025

Maharashtra has launched its GCC Policy 2025 to position cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar as future-ready innovation hubs. The policy targets attracting around 400 new GCCs while creating 4 lakh high-skilled jobs, establishing specialized clusters, providing advanced infrastructure including GCC parks and co-innovation labs, and offering fiscal incentives to reduce entry barriers.

The Game-Changer: Gems & jewelry as a Priority Sector

Gems & jewelry has been designated as a priority sector at par with IT, Renewable Energy, Pharmaceuticals, Automotive, and Aerospace & Defense.

This strategic recognition acknowledges that the modern jewelry business demands sophisticated capabilities: CAD design, AI-based gemstone grading, quality analytics, supply chain digitization, lab-grown diamond R&D, international merchandising, digital retail platforms, sustainability and traceability systems, and gemstone data modeling.

These are precisely the capabilities that GCCs are built to deliver.

The Investment and Entrepreneurship Opportunity

This policy creates an unprecedented foundation for international gems and jewelry companies to establish their capability centers in India. For the first time, there's a clear, incentivized pathway for global players to build strategic operations here.

What This Opens Up

For Global Investment: International jewelry brands, luxury conglomerates, and diamond majors can now establish global R&D centers, international merchandising hubs, digital product development teams, innovation labs for sustainability, high-end CAD/CAM divisions, and centralized data and branding operations—positioning India as the innovation nerve center for global jewelry strategy.

For Entrepreneurs: The policy dramatically lowers barriers for new ventures. Entrepreneurs can build tech-enabled jewelry brands, create AI-driven innovation solutions, develop specialized CAD/CAM services, establish B2B offerings targeting global GCCs, or build sustainability platforms. Access to specialized clusters and infrastructure means focusing on innovation rather than setup challenges.

For Scaling a business: Established businesses can expand into new capabilities, collaborate with global companies, access international talent, and position themselves as partners to multinational GCC operations.

The Entrepreneurial Edge

The convergence of global companies, infrastructure, incentives, and talent programs creates a unique moment. Cost and complexity barriers that typically prevent innovative ideas from reaching the market are significantly reduced. Entrepreneurs can experiment with new business models with infrastructure support and potential access to global customers literally next door.

What This Means for the Industry

For anyone building a career or business in gems and jewelry, the implications are substantial:

Global-Standard Opportunities: International companies establishing GCCs create opportunities to work on global projects in R&D, design, merchandising, and digital transformation—without relocating abroad.

Entrepreneurial Launchpad: Infrastructure support, global company presence, and policy incentives help entrepreneurial ideas scale faster and more effectively.

Strategic Networking: Specialized clusters naturally foster connections with global industry leaders, potential partners, investors, and customers.

The Bigger Picture

The GCC Policy 2025 establishes Maharashtra and India as a legitimate hub for global jewelry innovation and strategic capability development. International companies now see India not just as a manufacturing base, but as a center for innovation, technology development, and strategic thinking.

For students, entrepreneurs, and business owners, this means entering an industry that is becoming more global, more technology-intensive, and significantly more opportunity-rich than ever before.

The foundation is being laid. The question now is: who will build on it?