Beyond Silicon Valley: Global corporations expand GCC footprint in India

While companies from the United States dominate the Global Capability Centres (GCC) landscape in India, firms from other regions such as the United Kingdom, Europe Middle East & Africa and Asia-Pacific are also increasingly setting up shop in the country.

According to a report by real estate investment advisory firm Colliers, GCCs from the UK, EMEA, and APAC regions have expanded their footprint, steadily strengthening their presence in India. “Of the estimated 28 million sq.ft of space uptake by GCCs in 2025, around 10% is likely to come from global corporates across APAC countries such as Japan, Australia, Singapore, etc,” it said.

US-based companies have historically led the GCC demand for the country, with office space across the top seven cities accounting for nearly 70% of total absorption since 2021, the firm said. The current trend in the GCC ecosystem mirrors the Indian IT industry, where US firms account for around 60% of the revenue.

Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Pune are the top GCC hubs in the country, while emerging locations include cities like Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, and Thiruvananthapuram.

India is already home to over 1,700 GCCs employing 1.9 million people, generating revenue of around $65 billion. This number is expected to cross 2,400 GCCs with revenues touching $110 billion by 2030, according to a report by EY.

Non-US companies setting up GCCs in India signal a shift in the perception of the Indian GCC landscape beyond cost arbitrage to an innovation hub. Global companies setting centres in India are doing so because India today provides a technology edge.

Recently, non-US headquartered companies such as Rolls-Royce, DHL, Maersk have either expanded their GCCs or set up new units in the country. A recent study also noted how Japanese companies are keen to expand their GCC operations in India.

The report by Colliers remarked that as the Indian office market continues to grow in scale and depth, an increasingly diverse mix of occupiers from across regions is expected to establish their capability centers here, further enhancing India’s prominence in the global office landscape.

In fact, it further noted that GCCs in India can scale up to 1.5-2.0X times current levels in terms of number, revenue and employable workforce.

The expansion of GCCs in India not only benefits the local technology industry but also has implications beyond the IT sector. GCC growth provides a boost to the manpower-intensive construction industry, which leads to overall growth of the economy.