India has over 2,000 GCCs; revenue nears $100B

India is now home to 2,117 global capability centres (GCCs) employing 2.36 million professionals. As of FY26, total revenue generated by these centres reached $98.4 billion, according to a joint report by Nasscom and Zinnov.

The report, “GCC Value Orbit: From Delivery Engine to Enterprise Nerve Centre”, noted that there has been a growth of 32% since FY21. These GCCs are no longer following the “crawl-walk-run” model as 96% of the GCCs established after FY21 were launched with product or portfolio mandates from day one, the report noted.

Nearly half of all GCCs established since FY2021 were built with AI as a core focus from inception. The report said more than 1,200 GCCs in India have embedded AI and machine learning capabilities, supported by over 250 dedicated Centres of Excellence and a talent base of 250,000 AI professionals.

“India’s GCC ecosystem is undergoing a fundamental reset. The shift from scale to value is now well underway, with AI acting as the catalyst. GCCs are increasingly taking ownership of global products, platforms, and business outcomes, positioning India as a strategic nerve centre for enterprises worldwide," Rajesh Nambiar, Nasscom President, said.

He further said, “The next phase of growth will be defined by how effectively these centres can drive enterprise-wide transformation and deliver measurable impact.”

The report highlighted that AI is no longer a discrete project inside these centres, with GCCs moving from experimentation to deploying AI across products, internal operations, and customer offerings. Conversations have also shifted from what AI can do to how to govern it and make it economically viable at scale.

There has also been a rapid maturity among the GCCs in India as the emphasis is on value rather than volume. According to the report, nearly 50% of GCCs now operate at a high maturity stage.

This also has seen the evolution of leadership roles, with 64% of the site leaders now holding dual mandates that combine global functional ownership with site leadership owning mission critical responsibilities including, cybersecurity and AI governance.

Zinnov CEO Pari Natarajan said, “The India advantage today is unmistakable — one of the largest and fastest-growing pools of AI and digital talent in the world. The opportunity is to build on this by investing in frontier capabilities and deepening the ties between talent, academia, and industry. The centers that get this right will not simply benefit from India's rise. They will be the reason for it.”