Australian companies employ 30,000 Indians in GCCs, says high commissioner Philip Green

Australia's high commissioner to India Philip Green.

About 30,000 Indians are working for Australian companies’ Global Capability Centre (GCCs) domiciled in India and if the subsidiaries of these companies were to be included, the number crosses over a lakh.

“We think that there are about 30,000 Indians working full-time in GCCs for Australian companies in India,” Australia's high commissioner to India Philip Green told Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the 27th Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024. Australia is the country partner for Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024, which is being held from November 19-21.

A GCC is a dedicated offshore unit a company sets up in a foreign country to in-source IT and related business functions.

Australian companies operating in the banking, financial institutions, technology, telecommunications, and the mining sector have setup bases in India. “This is growing and many of these Australian companies that have begun the GCC journey in India have plans to grow,” Green said on the inaugural day of the summit.

A few big names from the Australian GCC stable include ANZ Bank, telecom firm Telstra and software firm Atlassian.

As a concept, GCCs have been present in India for the last 30-odd years the expansion picked up in the past couple of years. India is now home to over 1,700 such captive centres, with export revenue rising more than 40 percent to $65 billion in FY24.

Employing over 19 million people, these centres of multinational companies contributed $46 billion in 2023 to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Estimates expect it to reach $121 billion by 2030 or roughly 3.5 percent of the GDP.

The GCC route is a relatively new form of Australian investment in India and has a very strong basis, said Green, who has also served as the ambassador to Germany, Singapore, South Africa, and Kenya.

Echoing what the broader industry believes, firms seeking to set up GCCs are increasingly doing so to tap into the deep pool of skill sets available in India rather than the cost arbitrage.

“It's a positive development and one that I think has further upside to go forward,” he iterated.

Also read: IT companies set up dedicated GCC Strategic Business Units as demand booms

City Choice

When asked which city Australian companies prefer, Green said there's no favourite. Australian companies have set up bases in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Bengaluru.

He said Australian companies are free to make their choice according to the nature of their business and where it suits them best to be located. “I guess what is evident to me is that Australian companies that are thinking of doing this have got quite a lot of choice,” Green added.

You know, there are several vibrant centres across India that they could choose to make as their place for their GCCs.

Also read: Karnataka's GCC policy to focus on employee well-being, work-life balance and Beyond Bengaluru clusters

The AU$200 million bet

As part of its “India Economic Uplift Strategy,” the Australian government will spend Australian $200 million (almost Rs 1,100 crore) on business and other promotion activities.

It has also introduced its home-grown companies to Indian firms, and where necessary, local governments, to help potentiate their business.

Australia has employed trade promotion professionals in India to understand the business environment and make the necessary connections. All six states Down Under — New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania — are represented by their high representatives in India.

“That's the sort of level of consequence that we see of the Indian economy,” the high commissioner said.