IIM Jammu, J&K Government and NASSCOM bring industry, policymakers and investors together to build a sustainable GCC ecosystem
Jammu, October 8, 2026: A press conference was held on Thursday ahead of the J&K GCC Summit 2026, being organised by the Indian Institute of Management Jammu (IIM Jammu) in collaboration with the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, with NASSCOM as the Knowledge Partner. The press conference outlined the objectives, key focus areas and broader vision of the Summit, aimed at positioning Jammu and Kashmir as an emerging destination for Global Capability Centres (GCCs).
Scheduled for October 9–10, 2026, at Mandapam, IIM Jammu, the two-day Summit will bring together senior policymakers, industry leaders, academic experts, investors and representatives from the GCC and technology ecosystem. The participating dignitaries include Shri Atal Dulloo, IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of Jammu and Kashmir; Prof. B. S. Sahay, Director, IIM Jammu; Padma Bhushan Shri Rajendra Singh Pawar, Chairman, NIIT; Shri Rajesh Nambiar, President, NASSCOM; Shri Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, IAS, Secretary, Labour and Employment Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir; Prof. Jabir Ali, Dean, Faculty and Research; Prof. Nitin Upadhyay, Dean Academics, IIM Jammu; Prof. Shyam Narayan Lal, Chairperson, Anandam; and Dr. Sandeep Ananthanarayanan, CEO, CiTAG, IIM Jammu, among other leaders from industry, government, academia, investment, human resources and the innovation ecosystem.
Centred on the theme “Unlocking J&K’s GCC Potential for Building Growth Ecosystem & Catalyzing Investment,” the Summit is expected to bring together more than 300 delegates and provide a focused platform for translating Jammu and Kashmir’s emerging GCC potential into investment, employment, skills development and sustainable economic growth.
Global Capability Centres have evolved from offshore units primarily focused on transaction processing and cost optimisation into strategic centres for high-value functions such as product engineering, enterprise analytics, artificial intelligence, research and development and other critical global operations.
While India has emerged as a major hub for this transformation, GCC activity is increasingly expanding beyond established metropolitan centres into Tier-II and Tier-III cities. This presents Jammu and Kashmir with an opportunity to develop a distinctive proposition based on its talent pool, academic institutions, technology capabilities, infrastructure, innovation potential and quality of life.
Against this backdrop, the J&K GCC Summit 2026 has been conceived as a targeted investment-facilitation platform to showcase the region’s potential before global capability heads, location strategy leaders and transaction advisers. The Summit will facilitate discussions on how GCC investments can contribute to employment generation, skills development and economic diversification in Jammu and Kashmir.
It will also highlight the infrastructure readiness, single-window facilitation, incentive framework and institutional support available in J&K, while bringing together investors, industry stakeholders, government representatives and knowledge partners to contribute towards a comprehensive roadmap and enabling policy framework for GCC development.
The deliberations will examine successful GCC models from other states and identify policy interventions and ecosystem conditions that can strengthen investor confidence and facilitate long-term growth. Particular emphasis will be placed on strengthening industry-academia linkages through industry-aligned curricula, internships, experiential learning and leadership development.
The Summit is also expected to facilitate tangible outcomes, including Memoranda of Understanding, anchor investment commitments and employment proposals, translating strategic dialogue into measurable opportunities for investment, talent development and economic growth.
IIM Jammu highlights institutional role
Prof. B. S. Sahay, Director, IIM Jammu, said that when the Institute was established, the Hon’ble Prime Minister had emphasised that institutions such as IITs, IIMs and NITs have a role beyond awarding degrees and must contribute to the development of the region and the nation.
He said IIM Jammu is working closely with the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, with significant convergence across various areas. The Institute, he said, is contributing through three broad mandates—policy formulation, capacity building, and engagement with government and industry.
Prof. Sahay noted that four policies developed at the Centre for Innovation and Transformation in Governance (CiTaG), IIM Jammu, including Mission YUVA, have been accepted. The Centre is also facilitating public-private partnership projects and undertaking capacity-building programmes for government officials.
He added that IIM Jammu is working with the MSME sector and exploring ways to support its revival and growth. He said the Institute had proposed the development of a GCC ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir as an important opportunity to generate employment and contribute to the region’s economic development.
Referring to the Summit, Prof. Sahay said around 45 companies, more than 55 industry leaders and over 300 delegates, along with government representatives and other stakeholders, are expected to participate in the two-day event.
He emphasised that the Summit is not an investment summit but an effort to create awareness about Jammu and Kashmir’s potential as a GCC destination and facilitate meaningful engagement between government and industry. He said GCCs can create opportunities across a range of service and knowledge-based functions and that J&K needs to build the ecosystem required to attract such organisations.
He highlighted the role of institutions such as IIM Jammu and IIT Jammu in developing and training the skilled manpower required by industry. Preparing the youth with the right skills, he said, will be essential to ensuring that opportunities created through the GCC ecosystem translate into employment.
Prof. Sahay said the Summit will provide participating organisations an opportunity to understand the ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir, interact with government representatives and explore possibilities for establishing operations in the region. Business meetings and parallel interactions with organisations are also being facilitated during the Summit.
He called upon industry, government and other stakeholders to use the Summit to understand the potential of Jammu and Kashmir and work collectively towards attracting more organisations to the region. The objective, he said, is to create a sustainable ecosystem contributing to employment, skill development and the overall development of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Summit will also showcase the region’s cultural heritage through a cultural programme, Colors of Jammuby Padma Shri Balwant Thakur.
Government stresses employment potential
Shri Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, IAS, Secretary, Labour and Employment Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, said the Summit comes at an important juncture as the region seeks to create new avenues for employment and economic opportunity.
He noted that the GCC model can provide a platform for attracting large corporate organisations and creating sizeable employment ecosystems, particularly in white-collar and knowledge-based sectors. He emphasised that Jammu and Kashmir must continuously create employment opportunities for its growing pool of skilled and educated workforce, while recognising that the Government alone cannot be the sole source of employment.
In this context, he said GCCs can play an important role in creating opportunities in areas such as finance, human resources, technology, analytics and other knowledge-driven functions. He stressed the need to develop a strong local talent pool and align skills development with emerging industry requirements.
Shri Ranjan also pointed to Jammu and Kashmir’s favourable climatic conditions, natural environment and connectivity to the National Capital Region as factors that can support the development of a GCC ecosystem.
He said the growth of GCCs could have a wider multiplier effect on the local economy by generating direct and indirect employment, strengthening supporting services and creating an ecosystem around new investments and businesses.
Industry-academia collaboration at the core
Prof. Jabir Ali, Dean, Faculty and Research, IIM Jammu, said the Summit would strengthen industry-academia-government collaboration and create opportunities for research, knowledge exchange and innovation to support a sustainable GCC ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
He highlighted the importance of aligning academic and research capabilities with emerging industry requirements through applied research, industry-led innovation and talent development.
Prof. Nitin Upadhyay, Dean (Academics), IIM Jammu, said every state has an important role in realising the vision of Viksit Bharat and Jammu and Kashmir can contribute significantly through technology and innovation.
He said that as IIM Jammu completes ten years, the establishment of a GCC ecosystem in the region assumes particular importance. He added that J&K has the potential to emerge as a distinctive GCC destination and that the Summit would facilitate networking among industry and government stakeholders, build meaningful connections and create potential investment pipelines.
Dr. Sandeep Ananthanarayanan, CEO, CiTaG, IIM Jammu, said the Summit would connect technology, innovation and governance perspectives with industry and policy priorities, helping shape actionable pathways for developing J&K as a competitive GCC destination.
He highlighted the importance of leveraging digital capabilities, emerging technologies, institutional expertise and local talent to create an enabling ecosystem capable of attracting investment, fostering innovation and supporting sustainable economic growth.
Two-day Summit to focus on policy, investment, technology and talent
The inaugural programme on October 9 will commence with a campus tour and sapling plantation by dignitaries. The proceedings will include an address by Shri Atal Dulloo, IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, followed by the welcome address by Prof. B. S. Sahay, Director, IIM Jammu, and a brief on the Summit by Shri Kumar Rajeev Ranjan, IAS, Secretary, Labour and Employment Department.
Shri Rajesh Nambiar, President, NASSCOM, will deliver the plenary address, followed by the address by the Chief Guest.
The first day will feature three high-level panel discussions covering the institutional, policy and investment dimensions of the GCC opportunity in Jammu and Kashmir.
The first panel, “Industry-Government Collaboration and Ecosystem: Enabling the J&K GCC Growth Agenda,” will examine facilitation mechanisms, infrastructure, approvals, digital public infrastructure, accountability and policy stability required to establish J&K as a credible GCC destination.
The second panel, “India’s GCC Growth Story: One India, Many GCC Models,” will draw on the experience of GCC-enabled states to examine approaches relating to incentives, employment, infrastructure, skilling, technology and research and development.
The third panel, “Industry-Government Partnership for J&K: Investment, Employment and Economic Growth,” will focus on investor requirements, including land, infrastructure, connectivity, incentives and operating-cost support, while exploring opportunities in financial services, healthcare IT, engineering and product development, GovTech, artificial intelligence and data services.
The second day will focus on technology, talent and an actionable roadmap for J&K. The fourth panel, “GCC Innovation and Technology: Unlocking the Tier-2 and Tier-3 Advantage,” will examine how emerging technologies, cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence and digital capabilities can enable high-value work from Tier-II and Tier-III locations.
The fifth panel, “The Future of GCC: Talent and Workforce Transformation,” will focus on skills-based organisations, AI-enabled workplaces, leadership pipelines and stronger industry-academia alignment to develop future-ready talent.
The final panel, “Roadmap for Making J&K the Next GCC Destination,” will consolidate the Summit’s deliberations into actionable priorities covering policy, infrastructure, investment, talent and skilling, feeding into the proposed J&K GCC roadmap and incentive architecture.