A new report from ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has revealed that GCCs are boosting India’s economic growth by driving services exports and creating high-quality finance roles. GCCs are forecast to contribute 2% of India’s GDP and generate 2.8mn jobs by 2030.

GCCs in India have evolved from back-office support hubs to global value creators - now leading innovation, technological advancements, and research & development for global corporations. They play a key role in managing global operations and work closely with teams across the world. A skilled workforce (especially tech-related), expansion into tier-II cities, favourable government policies and improving infrastructure are fuelling India’s rise as the world’s front office.

In FY24, GCCs generated approximately $64.6 billion in export revenue, marking a significant 40% increase from $46 billion in FY23. 20,000 global leadership roles are projected to be based in India by 2030.

Md. Sajid Khan, Director – India at ACCA said: ‘India is the ideal environment for GCCs thanks to our young, educated workforce, politically stable business environment and digital transformation capabilities.

‘Opportunities for finance professionals especially are immense, with strong demand for those with a higher set of skills who understand the finance function, are comfortable with data and digital tools and can deploy commercial and critical thinking. With the ‘Think Ahead’ approach, knowledge and skills gained through the ACCA Qualification on international accounting, auditing and sustainability standards, ACCA students and members are well placed to fill these global roles.’

As GCCs mature, finance roles are expanding far beyond traditional boundaries – from doing basic transaction focused accounting to roles that create value for the organisation – through process improvement and cost transformation initiatives. Areas of opportunity include business partnering, procurement, reporting, planning and analysis. While entry level roles focus on data analytics, FP&A and compliance management, mid-level roles are shifting to process improvements and driving transformation.

To be successful in this increasingly global way of working, finance professionals require a higher set of skills and capabilities with a mix of knowledge, solution and behaviour centric capabilities: understanding of finance function and specific industry vertical/ domain, comfort with data and digital tools; commercial and critical thinking to support decision making; and the ability to collaborate and communicate with global teams.

To manage risks and maximise the ongoing momentum, collaboration among state and non-state actors is the key. India needs a comprehensive and centralised GCC strategy backed by support from policymakers in promoting innovation, creating skilling initiatives and streamlining regulations

Report author Pooja Chaudhary, Policy and Insights Lead for India at ACCA, said: ‘The report highlights the factors driving GCC success in India and what’s needed to sustain it. Strong leadership, cross-cultural talent, and collaboration between global and local teams are key to running a successful GCC. As GCCs take on more strategic roles, they must work with policymakers to streamline regulation and partner with academia to bridge skill gaps while continuing to create value through innovation and alignment with the parent organisation.’

Read the report.

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We are ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), a globally recognised professional accountancy body providing qualifications and advancing standards in accountancy worldwide.

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