Chennai: US healthcare and pharmacy company Walgreens is set to establish its first Global Capability Centre in India in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, under a memorandum of understanding with the state government. The centre is expected to create 250 jobs in its first year.
Walgreens India Private Limited signed the memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu government on Friday in the presence of Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay. The proposed centre will focus on technology and business services and is expected to expand its operations in the coming years.
The centre will be located at DLF Downtown in Taramani, along Chennai's Old Mahabalipuram Road, commonly known as OMR. The location is part of the newly announced OMR Global Capability Centre corridor, which is part of Tamil Nadu's efforts to attract and expand global capability centres in Chennai.
The Tamil Nadu government said the centre would initially provide employment to 250 people in its first year. Walgreens and the state government have indicated that the centre could expand in the following years, but no figure has been announced for the eventual workforce.
The company has not disclosed the total investment planned for the Chennai centre. It has also not announced a specific date for the facility to begin operations or provided details of the individual job categories that will be recruited.
The proposed centre is intended to help Walgreens build technology and business capabilities in Chennai to support its wider operations. The development comes as multinational companies continue to use Global Capability Centres in India for technology and business functions.
Chennai has attracted several major international companies to its technology sector. Citi, Barclays and American Express are among companies that operate technology centres in the city.
The Walgreens agreement also comes as Tamil Nadu steps up efforts to attract more Global Capability Centres. The state government recently announced a Global Capability Centres Corridor and Development Programme covering key employment corridors across Chennai.
The programme is intended to support companies that establish, expand and scale their Global Capability Centres in the state. The proposed Walgreens centre in Taramani is located within the OMR corridor covered by the programme.
Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay also urged Walgreens to explore employment opportunities for young people in Tamil Nadu's Tier II and Tier III cities.
Officials from the Tamil Nadu government and Walgreens attended the signing ceremony. The agreement marks Walgreens' entry into India's Global Capability Centre sector through its first such facility in the country.
However, the project remains at the memorandum of understanding stage. This means the announced employment and future expansion plans are expectations, rather than jobs that have already been created.
The first year target of 250 jobs is currently the only specific employment figure announced for the centre. Further details about the investment, recruitment, start of operations and eventual size of the workforce have yet to be disclosed.