Is India World’s Next GCC capital?

Editor: Noopur Date

India is emerging as one of the most preferred markets for global businesses. Nearly 3281 foreign entities are already registered in India drawn by its vast addressable market, talent pool and pacing economic growth. Rising no. of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in the country are prime examples of it. Growing at nearly 8% CAGR, Indian GCC market is expected to surpass the mark of $100 billion by 2030.
The growth can fuel employment, innovation, infrastructure, digitalisation and GDP. However, few challenges stress upon the fact whether this growth is enough to make India a global GCC capital. Read this article to dive deeper into India’s GCC market, its growth drivers, challenges and outlook.

What are GCCs?
Global Capability Centres (GCCs) or Global In-House Centres (GICs) are the offshore business units fully owned by the parent MNCs. In contrast with the outsourcing process, GCCs create a strong value chain by operating as a separate wing for its parent company. These entities are mainly involved in the critical functions like R&D, customer support, finance, IT, etc. The key purposes to establish GCCs are:

• Tap the benefit of employing global talent
• Control cost and quality
• Create a back-office support
• Fuel strategic innovation

Indian GCC Market
Post the LPG reforms in 1991, the foreign companies started exploring India as a potential business destination. This led to India becoming the world’s outsourcing biggest hub for business process and IT services. In the early 2000s, the cheap availability of talent and developing technology attracted companies like Dell, American Express, GE, etc., to establish their GCCs. Today, India accounts for a humongous 55% share of the global GCC market.
Approximately 1800 GCCs exist in the country as of 2024 and the count may rise to 2200- 2500 by 2030. The dynamics and scope of GCCs are expanding to sectors like AI/ML, data analytics, cybersecurity and product engineering. The key cities supporting the growth trajectory are Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Delhi and GIFT City. Moreover, growing GCCs are also expected to catalyse nearly 47% employment in the country from 2024-30.

Strategic Shifts fuelling the Revolution
The GCC market growth in India is driven mainly by the following factors:

• Software export – India’s forte in its IT service industry and specifically software export can provide significant push to attract more global businesses. In 2025, this space is also set to register 12.5% YoY growth.
• Skilled workforce – Country’s demographic dividend and continued efforts to improve skill levels provides an opportunity to MNCs to hire better talent at lower cost. India is a hub for its 1.5M STEM talent, which has potential to attract more GCCs in the upcoming times.
• Rising GCC office space demand – In India, GCCs already contribute 40% of the office space demand. Specifically, from January to September 2025, this demand has surged by 8% and it is led by the BFSI and technology sector. The bullish trend can welcome more GCCs in the country.
• Avenue for innovative investment – The growing focus on ease of doing business in India is presenting a potential investment opportunity for global businesses in the form of GCCs. Further, these GCCs are also instrumental in fueling the overall startup ecosystem in the country.
• Policy Reforms and Support – Government has all eyes on tapping the holistic growth from rising GCC market size. It is committed to align centre and state policies to encourage GCCs by offering easy credit, infrastructure and skilled talent pool.

Challenges
Despite the rosy picture India reforming into a GCC capital for the world, few aspects need to
be focused to get the desired growth.

• Infrastructure strain in the Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities
• Talent attrition from the country for better opportunities offshore
• Insufficient digital infrastructure to provide cybersecurity
• Skill gaps and soaring education cost
• Lack of proper regulatory frameworks
• Competition from other APAC countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, China,etc.

The Road Ahead!
India’s evolving business landscape can be rightly served by the GCCs. By 2030, the space is expected to generate nearly $121 billion revenue with $102 billion from exports as per the Economic Survey 2025. Moreover, it can then contribute nearly 3.5% of India’s current GDP. Based on the current growth pace of Tier 2 cities, they can become key drivers of this growth. Further, the sectors like BFSI and technology, along the themes of GenAI and Greentech innovation can potentially prevail. Overall, with a fine balance of impending challenges, India is well-positioned to emerge as a strategic headquarters hub for several global enterprises with GCCs.