India to be GCC hub, draw top retail, consumer packaged goods brands: Nasscom

As businesses around the world continue to accelerate their digital transformation journeys, India is evolving into a hub for their global capability centres (GCCs), Nasscom said in a report published with consulting firm ANSR.

Global capability centres are dedicated facilities that concentrate workers and infrastructure to handle a range of back-end and IT support operations. They are critical to drive innovation and productivity in organisations.

In the report, titled Evolution of Retail/CPG GCCs in India, Nasscom and ANSR said that GCCs have become a particularly valuable prospect for brands in the retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) segment.

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Citing an Everest Research and a survey of 70 enterprises managing GCCs, the report said that retail and CPG facilities were growing rapidly in India. The country already hosts GCCs established by 25% of global retail and CPG companies, it said.

These enterprises include big names such as Adidas, Domino’s, Amazon and Ikea, and collectively employ more than 50,000 people across the country, the report said. More than 50% of the units have been set up in the past seven years and over 70% are located in Bengaluru, it added.

Talent pool, growth ecosystem in India

As per the report, the country offers a mature ecosystem of a skilled tech workforce, global operating models and delivery capabilities. This helps GCCs serve as a strategic driver for digital-first capabilities and innovations at scale, such as digital commerce, store systems, ERPs, NOC, SOC, IT support as well as core business functions such as merchandising, store operations and order management.

At present, the report said, as many as 25 retail and CPG enterprises are looking to add GCCs in India in 2021. With this, it is estimated that about 80% of the top 100 global retail and CPG companies would consider setting up a GCC in India over the next two years.

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“Several India-based retail/CPG GCCs have now evolved to become the second headquarters for the host companies with functional responsibilities to own and drive critical business growth outcomes,” Debjani Ghosh, president at Nasscom, said.

“In the next couple of years, we will witness a fundamental growth in this sector as top 100 global Retail/CPG companies will consider establishing a GCC in India to drive innovation and business transformation,” she added.