The government is working on a framework to expand the presence of global capability centres (GCC) beyond the top cities and is focusing on industry-academia tie-ups to create industry-ready talent, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday.

Vaishnaw said under the IndiaAI Mission, 6,000 more GPUs (graphics processing units) are expected to be added to the common compute facility, taking the total to 40,000 from 34,000 empanelled currently. These GPUs are sourced under the AI mission to provide subsidised compute power to local artificial intelligence projects.

The incubation centre at IIT Madras Research Park and Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya, where industry leaders like Airbus have helped tailor courses to industry needs, will serve as models to develop the GCC ecosystem, the minister said.

“We should match the requirements of GCCs with particular universities,” Vaishnaw said. “According to their requirements, we should integrate courses in the education system.”

ET reported on May 28 that the ministry has set up an industry-led panel to help boost the growth of GCCs in India. The panel has representatives from Nasscom, Zinnov, ANSR, KPMG and Invest India among others.

This came after the budget announcement for a framework to promote GCCs in emerging cities, to outline measures for enhancing availability of talent and infrastructure, building bylaw reforms and mechanisms for collaboration with industry.

Vaishnaw said the framework being developed will take the GCC ecosystem to the next level and help create jobs.

The minister was speaking at the signing of a memorandum of understanding here between the ministry-backed Digital India Corporation and the department of youth affairs to build out the next phase of the MY Bharat platform, which provides youth single-window access to learning and personal and career growth opportunities.

MY Bharat 2.0 will be AI-enabled, multilingual, and mobile-first for personalised engagement and integration with platforms like the National Career Service, Aadhaar and DigiLocker.

“The MY Bharat platform today has 1.75 crore youth on it,” said Mansukh Mandaviya, union minister of youth affairs and sports.

"Through this mobile app, the youth will be able to engage with opportunities not just nation-wide but worldwide, along with various social activities and state governments," he said.

There are more than 1,700 GCCs in India employing roughly 1.5 million people.

The idea now is to create talent pipelines “GCC by GCC”, connecting them with institutes having the specific kind of expertise they need, and also enabling them to do original research work in India, said a person aware of the developments.

“That mapping is now about to begin, so GCC by GCC, we understand what they need to bring them to our country,” the person said. “For instance, if a GCC requires mechanical engineering talent, they may find it in Coimbatore where there is a very big ecosystem, a chemicals company may want to be near Gujarat, or a pharma company may want to be in Hyderabad.”

Further, the government is mulling a model where states can be brought onto a common portal so that GCCs can get the permissions they need quickly, the person added.