Pune: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that the state will have to develop an ecosystem of cities beyond Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune for the sustainable and long-term growth of the global capability centres (GCCs). CM invited GCC leaders to look at Nashik, Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar as the next frontier to set up their specialised technology units.“Maharashtra has somewhat of an unusual advantage. We do not have to set up the GCC ecosystem from scratch. We are sitting in Pune and we all know that it(GCC ecosystem) already exists,” he said while speaking at an event in Pune.Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Nagpur have potential to become specialised centres of global capabilities.“Our proposition is to come to Maharashtra not because we have one good city but an ecosystem of cities, talent and capability. Pune itself has demonstrated the strength of that proposition,” he said.Fadnavis said that GCCs should come to India not because the state offers better subsidies but because it offers talent, infrastructure, quality of life, research and universities. Subsidies alone cannot sustain investment, but there needs to be trust between industry and govt.“Our target is ambitious. Four hundred new GCCs, 4 lakh new jobs and Rs 50,000 crore of investment. But I do not want those numbers to remain targets on paper. I want every GCC leader to ask us what will the govt do to make my decision easier,” Fadnavis said.He said that the state provides fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to the GCCs willing to invest in the state. These incentives are mere instruments towards the state govt’s target to build capability. Industry is looking for people with the right skills and jobs being created today are changing rapidly. Job profiles such as AI and semiconductor engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity experts and advanced manufacturing engineers were almost not heard of till a few years ago.“Govt industry and academia have to come together to really shape the talent pool and that is why our GCC policy explicitly connects industry, skilling, research and employment,” Fadnavis added.
