GCCs, Startups, Manufacturing, SMBs: The Truth We’re Missing
I have been traveling to Tier 1 and Tier 2 locations starting the new year with the sole purpose of getting exposed to new perspectives and algorithms that govern society. My experiences have been pleasant so far and I could see the benefits of policies reaching the last mile and signals of prosperity. There is limited demand and consumption as we go deeper within India but access to exposure is certainly not a challenge. As a chronic optimist I believe that with exposure comes wisdom. One instance, however, jolted me. It was when someone told me that we are living in a third world country and we should not yet expect the dignity of labour.
There was a strange entitlement in his voice as he further said that he is allowing people to earn more by creating an ad-hoc job; a job which for me breaks every rule of empathy and morality. Collecting myself together, I told him that people like him are the reason why he believes we are a third world nation. Someone who claims himself to be the caretakers of the society but hone unorganized practices to evade tax. Who normalizes compromised quality of services by taking away the opportunity of skill development thereby impacting the reputation of the country and its people.
This instance left me unsettling and it’s been resonating in my head as to what will bring the Tier 2s and Tier 1s and the metros at par? How far is the time when we see an equal delivery of infrastructure, education and products? I plan to skip the rhetoric and make a scientific judgement. The answer lies not in more optimism but in a cold-eyed look at India’s economic engines through a BCG matrix lens: relative competitive position versus growth outlook. And the picture is brutally lopsided. GCCs are the undisputed stars, large manufacturing is an emerging star propped up by PLI schemes, Startups have tumbled from hype to question marks, and SMBs despite driving nearly 30% of GDP and half of exports, stand weakened as policy dogs, the invisible backbone exploited by everyone else.
I am now doubtful if, ‘Sab changa si’! GCCs dominate the star quadrant with ruthless efficiency. India hosts over 1,700 of them, employing 1.5-1.9 million professionals and capturing 60% of the global market, with revenue projected to hit $90-100 billion by 2030. NASSCOM reports 16 new GCCs in Q2 2025 alone, mostly in AI/ML, fueling double-digit growth. These are compliant, English-speaking powerhouses that flatter the “New India” story that is metropolitan, global-facing, and talent-hungry. Tier-2 cities like Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, and Kochi are seeing a surge, with GCC share rising from 5% in 2019 to 7% in 2025, and leasing up two-fold in FY2025 thanks to state IT parks and incentives. But this expansion is still optics-heavy: high-skill roles cluster in metros, leaving Tier-2s with support functions at best. Skilling is both a challenge and an opportunity here.
Large Manufacturing edges into emerging star territory, but only because Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes have forced it there. With ₹1.97 lakh crore outlay across 14 sectors, PLI has drawn ₹1.76-2 lakh crore investments by late 2025, spurring ₹18.7 lakh crore in incremental production, 12-12.6 lakh jobs, and 41.94% electronics export growth despite global headwinds. Sectors like semiconductors, pharma, medical devices, and telecom show real capacity expansion and import substitution. Yet manufacturing clings to 17-18% of GDP far from the 25% target, because labour dignity remains a punchline.
Startups? They’ve crashed into a state of question-mark. Funding plunged post-2021: tech startups scraped $10.5 billion in 2025, down 17% year-on-year, with Q3 under $3 billion and late-stage capital evaporating. The year 2024 at $10.9 billion was marginal, exposing many as regulatory arbitrage plays rather than deep-tech builders. They target Tier-2 as users but hoard decision rights in metros, reflecting disconnect and detachment. And SMBs, the policy dogs, bear the brunt. Contributing 29-30% of GDP and massive employment, they face chronic credit gaps, regulatory mazes, and zero glamour. Schemes like PMEGP and ASPIRE underperform spectacularly, some with near-zero spending despite allocations. National and highly critical decisions like the demonetization, GST rollout, and pandemic neglect left them in an existential crisis. Projections of 35-40% GDP share by 2030 ring hollow without real formalization incentives. These are the entities creating the “ad-hoc” jobs, because that’s what metros demand: cheap, unskilled fuel for their star narratives.
This matrix exposes the state we are in as India: it is quite evident that we are overfeeding stars in glass towers while starving the dogs that stabilize society. Tier-2 gets WiFi and reels, but not equity. Exposure without mobility breeds the frustration that was the genesis of the “third world” rant.
India can’t claim first-world ambition with third-world labour habits. The matrix is a mirror of the pulse of the nation and how its people feel. It is humbling and it also means that it is time to do something radical across polity and governance.
Sources: NASSCOM Q2 2025 GCC Report; Zinnov GCC Outlook 2025; JLL India Office Leasing FY2025; PIB PLI Update 2025; Tracxn Startup Funding 2025; RBI Annual Report 2025; World Bank Manufacturing GDP Data 2025
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