Proactive governance, skilled workforce, low attrition and quality of life emerge as key strengths
Kerala is emerging as a strong contender for the next wave of Global Capability Centre (GCC) investments, with industry leaders highlighting its skilled talent pool, proactive governance, low attrition, cost competitiveness and quality of life as key advantages.
The assessment was made during a session titled “The Next Wave of GCC Growth: Why Kerala. Why Now” at the second edition of Economic Times GCC World SURGE, held in Kovalam. The event brought together leading GCC executives and industry experts to discuss India’s evolving role as a global hub for technology, innovation and business services.
Muraleedharan Manningal, CEO, Information and Communication Technology Academy of Kerala (ICTAK), said the state’s policies aimed at creating a readily available talent pipeline through industry-academia collaboration are helping GCCs expand their operations in Kerala.
Hari Prasad, VP & Managing Director, India, H&R Block, pointed to Kerala’s low attrition, cost effectiveness, deep domain expertise and strong academia-industry interface as important considerations for global companies setting up GCCs.
“We have partnered with ICTAK and Additional Skill Acquisition Programme Kerala (ASAP Kerala) to get highly trained and skilled talent from the state itself, which helped our company scale up in a short period of time,” said Prasad.
TCS Delivery Centre Head Arun Thekkethil said Kerala’s ecosystem, supported by collaboration between government, academia and industry, creates favourable conditions for GCC growth. He added that the state is increasingly moving from capability creation towards value creation and innovation.
Bhaskar Verma, Regional Director, Nasscom, urged global companies to explore Kerala for R&D operations, citing its research institutions, domain expertise and industry-ready talent.
Jison John, MD and CEO (India) and Chief Delivery Officer (Asia and Africa), Allianz Services GmbH, and Richard Antony, Director, EY GDS, also highlighted Kerala’s talent availability and quality of life, which contribute to lower employee attrition.
Earlier, Seeram Sambasiva Rao, IAS, Special Secretary, Department of Electronics & IT, Government of Kerala, outlined the state’s GCC strategy, covering technology infrastructure, GCC policy, emerging sectors, deep-tech startups, education and research, investment facilitation, global outreach and digital governance.
The state is also seeking to leverage its global diaspora and digital infrastructure, including KFON and the State Data Center, to strengthen its proposition as a long-term GCC destination.