Global enterprises evaluating Keralam for a Global Capability Centre (GCC) now have a defined, Government-enabled path from investment decision to operations. The Keralam GCC Boilerplate, introduced by the Electronics and Information Technology Department, Government of Keralam, is a soft-landing framework that provides ready infrastructure, an empanelled partner network and a dedicated facilitation team inside every Keralam IT park, including Technopark.
This article explains what the framework contains, who is eligible and how the application process works.
Why a soft-landing framework was needed
Keralam is already home to more than 50 GCCs spanning engineering, product development, digital technologies, healthcare, finance, analytics and enterprise operations. The State offers a deep talent pool, a mature IT ecosystem built over three decades of park-led development, world-class digital infrastructure and a progressive policy environment. The State's own experience, however, shows that these ingredients alone do not guarantee a fast start. During the establishment phase, investors must complete a chain of statutory, regulatory, administrative and operational activities before a single business operation can begin. Statutory registrations are often handled in sequence rather than in parallel, and coordination across Government agencies, IT parks and professional service providers adds time at each step.
The most persistent obstacle sits at the very start. Company incorporation requires an office address, while permanent office space is, in most cases, allotted only after incorporation is complete. The Boilerplate is built to break this deadlock.
The framework at a glance
The Keralam GCC Boilerplate supports multinational corporations from the moment they decide to invest until their GCC becomes operational. It runs through three integrated components working as a single coordinated mechanism.
The first is physical infrastructure: a dedicated GCC Soft Landing Centre offering Registered Office as a Service (ROaaS), plug-and-play operational workspace and shared business facilities from day one. The second is the Keralam GCC Partner Network, an empanelled group of professional service providers covering legal, financial, human resources, infrastructure and other establishment requirements. The third is the GCC Facilitation Team, a dedicated team within each Keralam IT park that manages the Soft Landing Centre, coordinates investor support and facilitates the establishment process end to end.
Together these components deliver a continuous journey across four functional pillars. Launch enables investors to establish operations through ROaaS, temporary workspace and shared facilities. Connect provides coordinated facilitation between investors, the IT parks and the Partner Network. Enable gives access to the ecosystem of professional service providers. Grow facilitates the transition to permanent office space and supports long-term growth within Keralam.
The GCC Soft Landing Centre
Each Keralam IT park shall establish a dedicated GCC Soft Landing Centre with 20,000 sq. ft. of plug-and-play infrastructure. The Centre is a ready-to-use business environment where investors can immediately commence incorporation-related activities, build their initial team and begin operations while permanent office space is identified.
Facilities include fully furnished workstations, meeting and conference rooms, high-speed internet connectivity, modular suites of 10 seats, 20 seats and larger, reception and common business facilities, and training and collaboration spaces.
Four provisions define how the Centre is used. Registered Office as a Service is available to eligible MNCs without an existing registered entity in India and can be used for incorporation and statutory registrations. Following incorporation, GCCs may use the plug-and-play workspace as a temporary operational base to recruit, operate and grow through the establishment phase. Eligible GCCs may occupy the Centre rent-free for up to six months, subject to the framework's provisions. Finally, the IT park prioritises identifying and allotting permanent space, and GCCs may remain at the Centre until the move is complete.
Rollout is in progress. The first Centre is operational at Infopark, Kochi.
The Keralam GCC Partner Network
The Partner Network is a curated ecosystem of professional service providers empanelled by each Keralam IT park to support investors through establishment and growth. Empanelment is facilitative in nature: GCCs retain full flexibility to engage empanelled partners or to appoint providers of their own choice.
Indicative services fall under five categories. Legal, company secretarial and compliance covers company incorporation, legal advisory, statutory filings, contracts, corporate governance, labour law compliance, licences and regulatory approvals. Finance, taxation and banking covers PAN, TAN and GST registration, accounting, auditing, taxation, corporate banking, treasury and financial advisory. Human resources and talent services cover talent acquisition, executive search, recruitment, staffing, payroll, HR outsourcing, and learning and development. Workspace and infrastructure services cover office fit-outs, interior design, furniture, facility management, IT infrastructure, network setup, cloud services, cybersecurity and managed IT services. Corporate concierge and business support covers employee relocation, accommodation, travel assistance, business concierge, branding, marketing, translation and logistics.
The GCC Facilitation Team
Every Keralam IT park constitutes a dedicated GCC Facilitation Team. This officer serves as the single point of contact and overall coordinator for GCC investors throughout the establishment phase.
One named officer is accountable for the investor's onboarding, registered office, workspace, introductions across the Partner Network, coordination with Government departments and the move into permanent space. The team manages investor onboarding under the framework, coordinates allocation of ROaaS and temporary workspace, facilitates engagement with the Partner Network for statutory, legal, financial and recruitment support, coordinates operational requirements including liaison with internal departments and external stakeholders, assists the transition to permanent office space, acts as the primary coordination interface between investors and the IT park, and monitors the progress of each GCC establishment to ensure timely resolution of issues.
The application journey
The framework sets out a five-step journey from Expression of Interest to operations.
The investor first submits an Expression of Interest through the Keralam Tech Portal. Next, the investor completes the eligibility assessment and onboarding under the GCC Boilerplate. In the third step, the investor accesses Registered Office as a Service and temporary workspace at the Soft Landing Centre. The fourth step is to start operations immediately, without waiting for company incorporation or completion of all statutory formalities, engaging Partner Network support wherever required. Finally, the GCC transitions to a permanent workspace, completes the required formalities and scales up operations in Keralam.
The Keralam Tech Portal serves as the single digital interface for investor registration, service requests, document management, progress tracking and access to the Partner Network.
Governance and service standards
The Boilerplate is implemented by the respective Keralam IT parks. Each park establishes, operates and manages its own Boilerplate and constitutes the Facilitation Team and Partner Network that support investors. The parks are responsible for establishing and operating the Soft Landing Centre, providing ROaaS, managing temporary workspaces, empanelling and periodically reviewing the Partner Network, facilitating investor onboarding, constituting and managing the Facilitation Team, facilitating identification and allotment of permanent office space, and maintaining records and undertaking periodic programme review.
Implementation is monitored periodically by the CEOs of the respective IT parks. Indicative service standards cover application acknowledgement, GCC onboarding, ROaaS allocation, office identification, proposal evaluation, workspace allocation, partner engagement and permanent transition.
Three parks, one framework
Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram, Infopark in Kochi and Cyberpark in Kozhikode each operate the Keralam GCC Boilerplate within their own jurisdiction: one State framework, applied consistently, with local execution close to the investor. Technopark, India's first IT park, anchors the Boilerplate in the State capital.
How to get started
Global enterprises considering Technopark for a GCC can submit an Expression of Interest through the Keralam Tech Portal, or contact the Technopark team at marketing@technopark.in or +91 7907335847. For Infopark, write to gcc@infopark.in; for Cyberpark, info@cyberparks.in.
Source:
Keralam GCC Boilerplate flipbook, Electronics and Information Technology Department, Government of Keralam.