The scale backs that up. The NASSCOM-Zinnov 2026 report estimates 2,117 GCCs and 2.36 million professionals in FY26, with more than 100 new centers added that year. These are estimates, not audited results.
This guide covers what counts as a new GCC, recent announcements, leading cities, and the hiring realities that decide whether a center reaches its targets.
Key Takeaways
- New GCC activity spans tech, BFSI, healthcare, pharma, retail, manufacturing, and semiconductors.
- Bengaluru and Hyderabad still draw most new centers; Tier-II cities and GIFT City are emerging.
- Mandates are shifting toward product engineering, AI, and R&D.
- Hiring speed, compliance, and onboarding often decide launch success.
What Are New GCCs in India?
What "new" means
A new GCC can be a first-time India entry, a newly operational center, an expansion, or a second-city launch. This article tags every example with a status:
- Confirmed: backed by a company release, government statement, or credible reporting
- Launched: open, with a location and mandate
- Expanding: an existing operation adding people, functions, or cities
- Proposed: announced but not yet operating
GCC vs. outsourcing or shared services
A GCC is enterprise-owned. The parent controls governance, strategy, and intellectual property, and answers for global outcomes. Outsourcers serve many clients, and traditional shared-services centers mostly run defined processes.
A GCC can still use staffing, consulting, or managed-service partners and remain captive. Ownership is the test.
Why companies choose India
India's talent base is the main draw. Deloitte's 2025 GCC report cites 2.1 million-plus STEM graduates a year, about 31% of global output. Zinnov's 2024 data adds that roughly 23% of Global 2000 multinationals had set up GCCs in India.
From cost center to capability center
Deloitte and EY both describe GCCs moving from resource centers toward strategic enablers tied to enterprise KPIs. Neither source claims every GCC has made the shift. Many still run mostly execution work.
Newer centers show the change in their mandates: product engineering, AI, cloud, cybersecurity, data, finance, R&D, and healthcare technology. V3 Staffing sees the same pattern in its GCC hiring, where requests increasingly cover product engineering, Agentic AI, and data platforms rather than only support roles.
New GCCs Launched, Expanded, or Announced in India
Each entry reflects its source at the time of reporting. Headcount and captive ownership appear only when primary releases confirmed them.
Recent announcements and launches
| Company | City | Status | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deepwatch | Bengaluru | Launched Dec. 2025 | AI threat detection, GenAI |
| Sonatype | Hyderabad | Hub opened Nov. 2025 (200+ staff per company) | DevSecOps, product/R&D |
| LPL Financial | Hyderabad | Opening reported Feb. 2026 | Wealth management |
| Ferguson | Bengaluru | Launched June 2025 (powered by ANSR) | Technology innovation |
| UBS | Hyderabad | Expansion reported Jan. 2025 | Finance, operations |
| OpenAI | New Delhi | Office announced Aug. 2025 | GCC designation unclear |
2025 activity by sector
- BFSI: Vanguard selected Hyderabad for its first India GCC (April 2025), covering engineering, cloud, data, AI, and cybersecurity. Citizens Financial Group announced a GCC with Cognizant in Hyderabad.
- Retail and consumer: Walmart Global Tech announced a second GCC in Chennai. Carlsberg launched an IT center in Gurugram, run with GSPANN, with 300-plus professionals planned in phase one.
- Media and gaming: Entain opened a GCC in Hyderabad, and DAZN expanded its sports-tech center there.
- Healthcare and industrial: HCA Healthcare reported its first Hyderabad GCC. Infineon inaugurated a GCC in GIFT City in March 2025.
- Other entrants: T-Mobile opened a technology center in Hyderabad, and McDonald's announced a large Hyderabad office. McDonald's has not formally labeled the Hyderabad office a GCC.
Notable 2024 entrants
- ZEISS opened its first Bengaluru GCC in November 2024.
- Medtronic opened a Hyderabad global IT center in July 2024.
- Marriott announced a Hyderabad Tech Accelerator, planned for early 2025. The release described a planned opening, not a completed one.
- Bristol Myers Squibb opened a Hyderabad site with 1,500-plus expected employees and over $100 million in investment, per its release. It isn't labeled a GCC.
- Amgen announced a Hyderabad technology site.
- Chevron announced its ENGINE center in Bengaluru.
This list is representative, not exhaustive. Every entry has a confirmed launch, expansion, or formal announcement.
Sector mix
Technology, BFSI, pharma and medtech, automotive, semiconductors, and consumer brands all appear. That mix is an observation from recent announcements, not a measured year-over-year trend.
Reading announcements critically
- Check the publication date and prefer company releases, government statements, and research firms.
- Treat headcount and investment figures as projections until confirmed.
- Remember an announcement isn't an operating center. Marriott's release, for instance, announced a planned opening.
Where New GCCs Are Emerging
Leading cities
Zinnov's FY26 estimates, counting GCC units rather than parent companies:
| City | GCC units | Share of talent |
|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru | 1,080+ | 34% |
| Hyderabad | 515+ | 14% |
| NCR | 490+ | 10% |
| Pune | 475+ | 13% |
| Chennai | 405+ | 12% |
| Mumbai | 375+ | 11% |
| Emerging cities | 375+ | 6% |
Two-thirds of new GCCs choose Bengaluru or Hyderabad, per the same report. Zinnov also says Bengaluru holds about 40% of India's GCC R&D talent.
Why companies look beyond Bengaluru
Zinnov points to operational diversification, deeper talent pools, and cost optimization. Recent moves illustrate the shift: Walmart in Chennai, Carlsberg in Gurugram, and Infineon in GIFT City.
GIFT City adds a tax angle. An EY summary cites a 10-year income-tax holiday for eligible IFSC units, but confirm eligibility for your unit structure before counting on the incentive.
Tier-II cities
Emerging cities hold a small share today. Zinnov counts 60-plus units in Coimbatore, 45-plus in Ahmedabad, and 35-plus in Kochi. The Tier-II and III talent pool was 82,000 professionals in FY2024.
Deloitte notes Grade-A tech parks and metro connectivity in Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, and Kochi. Published talent benchmarks for Indore and Jaipur are hard to find, so test depth city by city before committing.
Why India's New GCCs Are Becoming More Strategic
Ownership over execution
A strategic center owns platforms, architecture, IP, research, or measurable business outcomes. An execution center completes assigned tickets. Deloitte cites an industry estimate that about 53% of India GCCs drive enterprise-wide transformation.
AI changes the mandate
Zinnov counted 185-plus GCCs with AI/ML centers of excellence in FY2024. EY's 2025 pulse survey found 83% of centers investing in GenAI and 58% in agentic AI. Moving from pilots to production needs engineers, governance, and infrastructure.
Talent pressure
- Zinnov puts India's AI talent pool at 416,000 in 2025, with demand exceeding supply by half. That figure is India-wide, not GCC-only.
- Average salary increases ran 9.8%, versus 21.1% for AI/ML and 20.0% for cybersecurity.
- High-performer attrition was 16.5%.
V3 Staffing's recruiters see the same thing in Pune: strong engineers collect multiple offers, and slow interview feedback loses candidates. India GCC time-to-hire benchmarks are hard to find, so set your own targets.
Building the workforce model
- Tie hiring to the mandate and launch timeline.
- Hire leaders and critical roles first.
- Map local talent before choosing cities.
- Mix internal transfers, direct hires, and contract staff.
- Scale in phases, with succession plans.
Compliance and onboarding
Rules are shifting:
- Digital Personal Data Protection Rules notified Nov. 14, 2025
- Four Labour Codes took effect Nov. 21, 2025
- EPF wage ceiling is scheduled to rise from INR 15,000 to INR 25,000 a month on Sept. 17, 2026
- ESIC contributions: 3.25% employer and 0.75% employee
Onboarding matters too. A study cited by SHRM found structured onboarding made employees 58% more likely to stay three years. It isn't GCC-specific and doesn't prove causation.
V3 Staffing offers GCC hiring support covering background verification, compliant contracts, and structured onboarding. The firm reports hiring within 8 to 10 business days. Treat this as one option to evaluate, and ask any partner for proof.
How Companies Can Prepare to Build and Scale an India GCC
Decide before you announce
- Mandate and target functions
- One city or several
- Leadership structure
- Headcount and timing
- Technology requirements
- Legal and compliance duties
- Success measures
An announcement isn't an executable hiring plan.
Hire fast without lowering the bar
- Start with leaders and critical roles
- Map scarce skills and set assessment standards
- Assign onboarding ownership early
- Combine internal recruiting, direct hiring, specialist staffing, and temporary resources to absorb launch risk and demand swings
Evaluating a talent partner
Look for:
- India market knowledge and Tier-II reach
- Sector experience
- SLA-driven shortlists and vetting quality
- Compliance and onboarding processes
- Reporting and scalability
V3 Staffing, headquartered in Hyderabad with 15-plus years of experience, has offices in Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Delhi NCR, and Mumbai plus a Tier-II network. Its clients include GCCs and enterprises such as Entain, Flutter, and FactSet.
Its GCC-as-a-Service model scales from 20-member pilots to 500-member hubs.
Before choosing a partner, audit your hiring timeline, workforce gaps, and compliance requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the newest GCC?
There's no permanent answer. LPL Financial's Hyderabad GCC (reported Feb. 2026) is among the latest verified openings. Planned or expanded centers differ from new ones.
What does GCC stand for?
Global Capability Center. It's an enterprise-owned center delivering technology, operations, innovation, or specialized capabilities for the parent company globally.
Which companies are opening new GCCs in India?
Recent verified examples include Vanguard, Entain, HCA Healthcare, and LPL Financial in Hyderabad, Ferguson and Deepwatch in Bengaluru, Carlsberg in Gurugram, and Infineon in GIFT City. The list isn't exhaustive.
Which Indian cities are attracting new GCCs?
Bengaluru and Hyderabad lead, followed by NCR, Pune, Chennai, and Mumbai. GIFT City and Tier-II cities such as Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, and Kochi are emerging. Rankings change over time.
What is the difference between a GCC and an outsourcing center?
A GCC is owned and governed by the parent, which keeps strategic control and IP. An outsourcer serves multiple clients. GCCs can still use outside providers.
Why are companies expanding GCCs beyond Bengaluru?
Talent competition, diversification, infrastructure, and access to additional skilled workforces drive it. Costs and government incentives matter too, depending on the city.
