NEW DELHI: The Centre has unveiled a series of policy and tax reforms aimed at strengthening India’s position as a preferred destination for Global Capability Centres (GCCs), with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying the measures are designed to create a more predictable and investment-friendly business environment.
Speaking at the CII National GCC Business Summit 2026, Sitharaman said the government recognises that India’s next phase of GCC growth requires an enabling policy ecosystem that reduces compliance burdens, improves certainty and supports long-term investments.
As part of the Union Budget 2026-27, the government announced a Unified Safe Harbour Regime for IT and IT-enabled services to simplify transfer pricing compliance for GCCs. It also enhanced the Safe Harbour threshold from Rs 300 crore to Rs 2,000 crore, bringing a larger number of enterprises under a simplified compliance framework, the Office of the finance minister said in a series of posts on X.
The Budget also introduced a fast-track Advance Pricing Agreement mechanism to provide greater tax certainty for businesses operating in India.
The finance minister also said the government is investing in stronger innovation ecosystems through continued support for Digital Public Infrastructure, skilling initiatives, urban infrastructure and multimodal logistics.
She said five University Townships will be developed to strengthen collaboration between industry, academia, and research institutions while creating a future-ready talent pool.
In addition, City Economic Regions are expected to emerge as globally competitive innovation hubs, enabling GCCs to expand beyond traditional metropolitan centres. The Urban Challenge Fund, announced in the Union Budget 2025–26, will further help cities improve their economic competitiveness and attract future investments.
Industry leaders welcomed the policy measures. Gunjan Samtani, Chair of the CII Taskforce on GCCs and Co-Chairman of Goldman Sachs in India, said the Union Budgets of 2025 and 2026 had positioned GCCs as a strategic pillar of India’s growth story.
He said key reforms included a single-bucket tax categorisation, a 15.5% safe harbour transfer pricing margin for GCCs with a turnover of up to Rs 2,000 crore, a tax holiday until 2047 for foreign companies providing global cloud services through India-based data centres, time-bound Advance Pricing Agreements, incentives for expansion into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, and amendments to the Integrated GST Act that have eased disputes related to intermediary services.
The measures are aimed at improving tax certainty, simplifying compliance and strengthening innovation ecosystems to support the continued growth of Global Capability Centres in India.
