July 22: What in the GCC? Madhya Pradesh gets a Spain call-up

Good Morning 🇮🇳

Jane street is back on the streets. SEBI lifted its ban on the trading firm last week after the firm deposited ₹4,844 crore in escrow account. Basically, a very expensive ‘I promise to be good’ piggy bank. They're still restricted from options trading however, as the investigation into the alleged manipulation of indices continues. In case you forgot, SEBI’s probe had revealed that the firm made net profits of Rs 36,671 crore during Jan’23 and May’25 through this manipulation.

Now, let’s get into the dispatch! 🚀

Today’s reading time is 4.5 mins.

India’s has witnessed a remarkable surge in the establishment and growth of Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in the last few decades. This has transformed the country into a pivotal hub for multinational corporations seeking to leverage specialised skills and cost efficiencies. India currently accounts for more than 50% of GCCs across the world, and like Indian parents of a child who got 89% in boards - it’s just not enough. According to a report, India is planning to add 150 centres every year for the next 3 years and will surpass 2,100 Global Capacity Centres by FY 28. So maybe it’s time to actually ask - what even is a GCC?

GCCs: Global Capacity Centres (GCCs) are offshore offices set up by international companies to handle key business operations such as software engineering, IT support, finance, research or customer service. It’s basically the company’s back office brain, but in a different country.

Why India? India is a favourite because of the extensive talent pool, supportive government policies, and cost efficiency. Now with increase in software exports services, expansion of GCCs in Tier 2 cities and collaboration with a thriving start-up ecosystem - the pull to India has come far beyond just labour arbitrage but rather a must for digital transformation, innovation, and value-added operations.

Big picture: The latest trends show that there’s a strong push towards Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in AI, cloud, engineering, and cybersecurity. This can help further transition Indian GCCs from a 'cost centre' to a 'profit center,' with a focus on generating additional revenue streams, and positioning India as a business hub.

Keep calm and buy Palm (seeds): India - the world’s largest Palm Oil importer - is trying to reduce its dependence on imports of the oil. In that bid, it has now emerged as Malaysia's top oil palm seed buyer, to boost domestic production. India imported 3 million tonnes of Palm Oil in 2024. This represented ~18% of Malaysia’s total palm oil exports.  

Record renewables rollout: Indian renewable energy sector added a record 22 GW of renewable capacity in H1 2025, 56% higher than last year - bringing us closer to the ambitious 2030 clean energy target of 500 GW. However, coal still dominates nearly three-quarters of the country’s power generation.

Phoren chalo MP: Madhya Pradesh has received over ₹11,000 crore in investment proposals from Spain and Dubai after CM Mohan Yadav’s official visits to the countries. The investments will be in multiple sectors such as infrastructure, hospitality, food processing and logistics. Our top pick goes to a film co-production MoU with the Spain Film Commission. We’re ready for this collab.

With Pakistan nominating US president Donald Trump for the Noble Peace Prize, and Donald Trump in turn hosting Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Munir at the White House - ties between the two counties, which had largely languished under Trump's first term and Joe Biden, are seeing a major boost. This has led to evolving dynamics of the US-China-Pakistan triangle, and presents both opportunities and threats to India.

Read the excellent analysis of this emerging dynamic and India’s leverage here.

Microsoft servers hacked: A major cyber espionage campaign exploited Microsoft’s self-hosted SharePoint servers, compromising around 100 organizations as of previous weekend. The breach affected self-hosted SharePoint instances, not those hosted by Microsoft.

Colbert's late ‘Late Show’: CBS is ending Stephen Colbert's hugely popular "Late Show" in May 2026. While CBS said the show was canceled for financial reasons, the timing is suspect as it comes days after Colbert criticized the settlement between Trump and Paramount Global (parent company of CBS) over a legal battle related to “60 Minutes” - the news program.

Stablecoins just got regularized: On July 18, Donald Trump signed the "Genius Act," creating a regulatory framework for stablecoins i.e. cryptocurrencies tied to the value of stable assets like the US Dollar. This is the first major piece of crypto legislation being signed into law - a landmark moment for the industry.

AI’s deciding your flight prices: Delta Airlines - a major airline based in the US - now plans on using AI for ticket prices to move away from set fares and towards individualized pricing. Business moves like these have a tendency of crossing oceans very soon.

Pakistan skips hockey showdown: Pakistan Hockey Federation said they won't send their team to India for the Hockey Asia Cup next month, citing security concerns.

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