Women in Global Capability Centers

• 02 May 2024

Source: TOI

Why in News?

A recent report highlighted that nearly 5 lakh women currently work in Indian Global Capability Centers (GCCs), across GCCs in India.

• Global Capability Centers are offshore units established by multinational corporations to perform a range of strategic functions.

What are the Key Highlights of the Report?

• GCCs Growth:
  • India hosts nearly 1,600 GCCs, with a substantial addition of 2.8 lakh employees in 2022-23, expanding its talent base to over 1.6 million.
  • Nearly five lakh women currently work in Indian global capability centres (GCCs), comprising 28% of the total 16 lakh employees across GCCs in India. Gender diversity in the deep tech ecosystem stands at 23%.
• Executive and Senior Level Roles:
  • Only 6.7% of women hold executive roles in GCCs, and 5.1% in deep tech organisations.
  • At the senior level (9-12 years of experience) in GCCs, the representation of women stands at 15.7%.
• Graduate Representation:
  • The median representation of women graduates from top engineering universities stands at 25% between 2020-23.
• Challenges and Systemic Barriers:
  • Women's attrition is influenced by factors such as family and caregiving responsibilities, limited access to career advancement and leadership opportunities, and poor work-life balance.

What are Global Capability Centers (GCCs)?

• About:
  • Global capability centres (GCCs) represent offshore establishments set up by companies to deliver a range of services to their parent entities.
  • Operating as internal entities within the global corporate framework, these centres offer specialised capabilities including IT services, research and development, customer support, and various other business functions.
  • GCCs play a crucial role in capitalising on cost efficiencies, tapping into talent reservoirs, and fostering collaboration between parent enterprises and their offshore counterparts.
  • Special Economic Zones (SEZs) can provide a fertile ground for GCCs to flourish by offering several advantages like tax breaks, simplified regulations and streamlined bureaucracy.
• Present Status:
  • In 2022–23, around 1,600 GCCs made up a market of USD 46 billion, employing 1.7 million people.
  • Within GCCs, professional and consulting services are the fastest-growing segment despite only accounting for 25% of India's services exports.
  • Their compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31% over the last four years significantly outpaces computer services (16% CAGR) and R&D services (13% CAGR).

What are Special Economic Zones (SEZ) ?

• An SEZ is a territory within a country that is typically duty-free (Fiscal Concession) and has different business and commercial laws chiefly to encourage investment and create employment.
  • SEZs are created also to better administer these areas, thereby increasing the ease of doing business.
• Asia’s first EPZ (Export Processing Zones) was established in 1965 at Kandla, Gujarat.
• The Special Economic Zones Act was passed in 2005. The Act came into force along with the SEZ Rules in 2006.
• Presently, 379 SEZs are notified, out of which 265 are operational. About 64% of the SEZs are located in five states – Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
• The Baba Kalyani-led committee was constituted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to study the existing SEZ policy of India and had submitted its recommendations in November 2018.
  • It was set up with a broad objective to evaluate the SEZ policy towards making it WTO (World Trade Organisation) compatible and to bring in global best practices to maximise capacity utilisation and to maximise potential output of the SEZs.

UPSC Civil Services Examination Previous Year Question

Q. With reference to Foreign Direct Investment in India, which one of the following is considered its major characteristic? (2020)

(a) It is the investment through capital instruments essentially in a listed company.

(b) It is a largely non-debt-creating capital flow.

(c) It is the investment that involves debt-servicing.

(d) It is the investment made by foreign institutional investors in Government securities.

Ans: (b)

Q. Consider the following: (2021)

1. Foreign currency convertible bonds
2. Foreign institutional investment with certain conditions
3. Global depository receipts
4. Non-resident external deposits

Which of the above can be included in Foreign Direct Investments?

(a) 1, 2 and 3

(b) 3 only

(c) 2 and 4

(d) 1 and 4

Ans: (a)

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Mains

Q1. “The broader aims and objectives of WTO are to manage and promote international trade in the era of globalization. But the Doha round of negotiations seems doomed due to differences between the developed and the developing countries.” Discuss from the Indian perspective. (2016)

Q2. What are the key areas of reform if the WTO has to survive in the present context of the ‘Trade War’, especially keeping in mind the interest of India? (2018)