In 1985, Texas Instruments opened a software design centre in Bangalore. It was the first of its kind in India: a multinational running its own engineering team in a country better known at the time for low-cost back-office work. Four decades later, India has more than 2,100 global capability centres, and many of them own products, platforms and AI programmes for their parent companies.
The evolution of GCCs in India is a story of steadily rising responsibility. Centres that began by running tasks for headquarters now set global roadmaps, lead AI programmes and produce leaders who run worldwide functions from Bangalore, Hyderabad or Pune. This guide traces how that happened, what a modern GCC in India looks like, and what companies need to get right when they set one up.
Global Capability Centres in India: 2026 By the Numbers
India now has 2,117 GCCs across 3,728 units, employing 2.36 million professionals and generating $98.4 billion in revenue, according to the Nasscom-Zinnov India GCC Landscape 2026 report. Business Today reported in May 2026 that this puts the sector close to its 2030 revenue target about four years early. 506 Forbes Global 2000 companies now run GCCs in India.
AI is where the growth is most visible. More than 1,200 GCCs have embedded AI and machine learning capabilities, supported by about 250,000 AI professionals and more than 250 dedicated AI centres of excellence.
The growth also shows up in office demand. GCCs are expected to need 160 to 200 million sq ft of office space in India by 2030, and flexible and managed offices are projected to take 40 to 45 percent of it, according to figures cited by Awfis.
The Evolution of GCCs in India: Four Phases
1985 to 2000: Proving the Model
Texas Instruments’ Bangalore centre showed that Indian engineers could deliver complex design work, not just low-cost support. Through the 1990s, more multinationals followed, mostly in technology and banking. The pitch was simple: lower costs and a large English-speaking talent pool. These early centres were tightly controlled from headquarters and handed well-defined, repeatable work.
2000 to 2015: Centres of Excellence
GE’s John F. Welch Technology Centre, opened in Bangalore in 2000, signalled a move into serious R&D. Over the next 15 years, banks, pharma majors and engineering firms set up centres for analytics, risk modelling and product engineering. For the first time, some India teams owned pieces of work end to end instead of only executing them.
2015 to 2021: Digital Transformation
Cloud, data and digital programmes pulled India centres into core business work. Industry bodies and analysts settled on the name “Global Capability Centre” because it described what these teams now built: capability for the whole enterprise, not just output from one location.
2021 to Today: AI and Global Ownership
The latest phase is about ownership. According to Nasscom and Zinnov, 96 percent of GCCs set up after FY2021 launched with a product or portfolio mandate, and nearly half were built with AI as a core focus from day one. 64 percent of India site leaders now hold dual roles, running the India site while also owning a global function.
GCCs are also moving beyond the big three hubs. Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune still lead, but new centres are opening in cities such as Ahmedabad and Nagpur.
Where India’s GCCs Stand Today
Maturity still varies widely. Nasscom and Zinnov classify 13 percent of centres as Outposts focused on delivery, 43 percent as Satellites, 39 percent as Portfolio Hubs with end-to-end ownership, and 5 percent as Transformation Hubs leading AI-driven change. Nearly 75 percent have the potential to move up at least one level within five years, which means the evolution of GCCs in India is far from finished.
What Separates GCCs That Lead: Lessons From The Corner Awfis
On the GCC edition of The Corner Awfis, “From Delivery to Strategic Ownership,” India leaders from eBay, NatWest Group and Wells Fargo discussed why some centres become nerve centres for their global businesses while others stay delivery arms, despite the same country, the same talent pool and often the same buildings. A few lessons stood out.
Design for value, not cost. The Wells Fargo leader described three design patterns: cost, capability, and economic value. A centre built on a cost model can have bursts of innovation, but without big changes at headquarters and in India, it drifts back to cost and service.
Act as the enterprise in India. “We are the enterprise in India,” said NatWest Group’s India leader. Every leader there owns an outcome for the group end to end, so teams chase value rather than scale.
Spread ownership widely. Ownership doesn’t have to mean a global role. Teams can own a feature, a backlog, a platform, a product or a programme.
Build AI into how work gets done. At eBay’s year-old India centre, an engineer rebuilt seller listings over a weekend: sellers take a photo, and AI writes the title and description and suggests a price. The feature has produced hundreds of millions of listings. At NatWest, about 45 percent of code is now AI-generated, and trust is treated as a condition for innovation, not a brake on it.
Measure impact, not activity. Busy dashboards aren’t proof of value. eBay’s leaders keep asking “so what?” and warn that metrics like tokens used can push teams toward the wrong behaviour.
Control the narrative. Words like offshore and cost arbitrage, or ribbon-cutting posts for every new floor, shape how headquarters sees a centre. The panel suggested amplifying the products, revenue and innovation the India team delivers instead.
As the session concluded, the centres that pull ahead “don’t wait for the mandate. They ship something so that the mandate becomes inevitable.”
What a Modern GCC in India Does
A modern GCC is no longer measured on how cheaply it runs a process. It’s measured on what it builds and how much of the global business it shapes. In practice, that means:
- Owning products and platforms. India teams run engineering roadmaps, not just tickets assigned from headquarters.
- Leading AI programmes. Many centres build and deploy AI for the entire enterprise.
- Running global functions. Finance, risk, cybersecurity and data teams based in India now serve every region.
- Developing global leaders. Dual-mandate site heads run worldwide teams from India.
Benefits of GCC Models for Global Companies
The benefits of GCC setups go well beyond the labour-cost advantage that first brought multinationals to India:
- Innovation close to talent. India’s deep AI, data and engineering talent lets a GCC build new products, not just maintain old ones.
- Faster decisions. When the India centre owns a global function, work doesn’t wait for headquarters to hand it over.
- A leadership pipeline. Global roles based in India develop leaders who can run teams across time zones.
- Enterprise-wide impact. GCCs drive cloud migration, cybersecurity, analytics, and AI across the whole company.
- A cost advantage that still holds. The same cost edge now applies to higher-value work.
What It Takes to Build a GCC in India Today
The benefits of GCC ownership come with higher demands. A centre with a global mandate needs senior leaders on the ground, real decision rights and a workplace that can attract specialist talent.
The workplace matters more than many companies expect. Specialists in AI, product and data have options, and the office is one of the clearest signals of how seriously a company takes its India centre. That’s one reason managed offices have become a common choice for GCC setups in India. A managed office lets a new centre open in weeks instead of waiting months for a fit-out, with branded interiors, enterprise IT and security built in, and room to add floors as the mandate grows. According to Awfis, 84 percent of enterprises now see managed offices as the ideal model for expansion.
Our guide to the BOT model for GCCs covers another route, where a partner builds and runs the centre before handing it over.
The Bottom Line
The evolution of GCCs in India is the story of offshore teams becoming global ones. What began as a way to cut costs has become a way for multinationals to build products, run AI programmes and develop leaders. With most centres still climbing the maturity curve, the next five years will likely see many more India sites take on global mandates.
If you’re planning a GCC in India, start with space that won’t hold you back. Explore Awfis enterprise workspace solutions to see how teams in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and other cities get operational in weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is a global capability centre?
A global capability centre (GCC) is an offshore unit fully owned by a multinational. It builds capabilities for the global business, from engineering and data to finance, risk and AI.
Q2. How many GCCs are there in India?
India has 2,117 GCCs across 3,728 units, employing 2.36 million professionals, according to the Nasscom-Zinnov India GCC Landscape 2026 report.
Q3. How have GCCs in India evolved?
They have moved through four broad phases: proving the model (1985 to 2000), centres of excellence (2000 to 2015), digital transformation (2015 to 2021), and AI and global ownership (2021 onwards).
Q4. What are the main benefits of GCC models?
The main benefits of GCC models are access to specialist talent, faster decisions, a leadership pipeline, enterprise-wide impact and a continuing cost advantage.
Q5. Which Indian cities are best for a GCC?
Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune have the deepest specialist talent. Chennai, Delhi NCR and Mumbai are also major hubs, and newer centres are opening in cities such as Ahmedabad and Nagpur.
Q6. How long does it take to set up a GCC in India?
It depends on the workspace route. A conventional lease and custom fit-out can take months, while a managed office can be ready in weeks.
Sources
- Nasscom and Zinnov, “India GCC Landscape 2026”
- Business Today, “The big boom: How India’s GCC story hits 2030 target 4 years early,” May 2026
- Sheetal Vanwari (Awfis), “Experience Over Equity: Why GCCs Are Choosing Managed Ecosystems to Win the Global Talent War,” MediaNews4U, February 2026
- The Corner Awfis, “From Delivery to Strategic Ownership,” GCC Edition
