AstraZeneca India Private Limited (AZIPL), the global capability centre (GCC) of AstraZeneca, will invest ₹250 crore ($30 million) to expand its global innovation and technology centre (GITC) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. This includes around 1,300 roles focused on driving innovation, enhancing efficiency, and streamlining operations across the company globally, according to a media release.
The inauguration of the expanded facility on Thursday was officiated by TN Minister of Industries TRB Rajaa, British Deputy High Commissioner to India Christina Scott CMG, and AstraZeneca’s Vice President for Asia Area Sylvia Varela.
The investment comes as the company marks its 45th year in the country this month. With the expanded GITC and workforce by 2025, the company aims to leverage technologies such as enterprise platforms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, and supply chain analytics.
Siva Padmanabhan, Managing Director, AZIPL, said: “We are evolving our technologies constantly so that we can stay ahead of the curve in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries to better serve our patients in countries where we operate. We are deeply invested in infusing the best of technology and innovation practices into the healthcare ecosystem.”
Rajaa said Chennai has rapidly emerged as the GCC capital of India, leading to historical levels of office space absorption and bringing high-quality jobs to the state.
The company’s 3.34 lakh sq ft office space at Ramanujan IT City will expand by about 1.8 lakh sq ft over the next six months to become its biggest GCC. Together with the GITC, it employs more than 4,000 in the country, the release said.