Business

Kerala government to release GCC policy shortly

By Kerala It

Copyright thehindu

Kerala government to release GCC policy shortly

The Kerala government will shortly release a Global Capability Centre (GCC) policy this year to utilise the potential of the State’s GCCs at the international level, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Friday.

The government intends to give incentives to encourage companies that wish to start GCCs in the State amid their aspirations for in-house capabilities across various business functions, he told a roundtable meeting of GCC heads, jointly organised here by Kerala IT and ETGCCWorld.in.

The government will provide a single-window system for permits and basic facilities from inauguration to commencement of work. Currently, with 40 GCCs operating, Kerala is working to increase the number to 120. The target is to raise jobs from 40,000 to two lakh by 2030, said Mr. Vijayan while inviting industry representatives to Kerala to learn first-hand about its infrastructure, world-class IT parks, and living conditions, a release issued here said.

IT Secretary Seeram Sambasiva Rao described the GCC region as the “driving force” of a vibrant economy. Listing national highway development, Vizhinjam port, coastal highway, hill highway, and canal transport as examples of Kerala’s infrastructure development, he said that Kerala currently had several world-class companies in the GCC region along West Asia.

Mr. Rao also highlighted the importance of “controlled urbanisation” as the “most important thing” tha Kerala was putting forward for the IT industry.

S.D. Shibulal, vice chairman of the State’s IT high-powered committee, said the IT sector in the country should focus on harnessing Kerala’s strengths in terms of talent and capability. “Initiatives such as Research Cluster, GPU Cluster, and Kerala AI for government services show the State’s commitment in the area,” he added.

Company heads at the discussion highlighted the need for an understanding on the right areas that the State should focus on while hosting GCCs. They called for bringing women to leadership positions in the GCC-IT sector.

Infopark chief executive officer Susanth Kurunthil presented details of the draft GCC Policy. A special team for GCC will be set up at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and Infopark in Kochi, he added.

Technopark CEO Sanjeev Nair and Kerala Startup Mission CEO Anoop Ambika spoke.