Report Card: How India’s GCC Sector Performed in 2025
In 2025, India’s GCC sector surged: Over 50 new centres in the first half alone and over 1.9M professionals driving global engineering and AI mandates.
As 2025 ends, India’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) landscape stands at an important juncture. What began as offshore support hubs for multinational corporations has evolved into a full ecosystem of innovation, digital transformation and domain-led expertise. From asset management giants to life sciences majors, organisations worldwide have deepened their commitment to India as a global hub for capability and co-innovation. This year, 50 new GCCs were launched in India, with Bengaluru and Hyderabad leading the charge and expanding into tier 2 and 3 cities, reinforcing the nation’s pivotal role in shaping the future of global enterprise.
A Year of Strategic Depth and Culture Shift
The transformation in India’s GCC sector isn’t just about numbers — it’s about value and purpose. India is now home to over 1,700 GCCs employing around 1.9 million professionals and generating approximately US$46 billion in annual exports.
A Deloitte report revealed this growth is being underpinned by a strong shift in workplace culture. The study reports a Culture Index of 82 out of 100 among Indian GCCs, with a remarkable 95% of organisations scoring high on empowerment and inclusion. This people-first orientation is not just ethical, it’s strategic. It’s what makes GCCs not just centres of delivery, but centres of engagement and innovation.
Policy Momentum and the Rise of New Hubs
2025 has also seen strong policy shifts and the emergence of new geographic hotspots. Maharashtra and Karnataka have introduced dedicated GCC policies to accelerate investment and job creation. Maharashtra’s Global Competence Centre Policy 2025 aims to generate 400,000 jobs by 2030, with significant incentives for companies establishing operations in Tier-II and Tier-III locations. Karnataka, similarly, has laid out plans to nearly double its GCC footprint by 2029.
At the same time, a new wave of Tier-II cities has begun to emerge on India’s capability map. Cities such as Indore, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore and Chandigarh are increasingly viewed as next-generation GCC destinations because of their cost advantages, expanding talent pools and improving infrastructure.
The Expansion of Tier-II Cities
Beyond Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune, 2025 has seen a shift towards Tier-II destinations.
Ahmedabad, for instance, now hosts over 35 GCCs across analytics, innovation and digital operations. Indore and Coimbatore have seen rapid growth in AI, engineering and shared service functions.
This decentralisation is driven by cost-effectiveness, talent access, business continuity and supportive state policies, all of which make Tier-II cities compelling alternatives to established metros.
Strategic Launches and Sectoral Expansions
The most striking development in 2025 has been the sharp rise in non-technology GCCs, particularly in life sciences, healthcare, consumer goods, and engineering.
According to another report, 23 of the world’s top 50 life sciences companies have now established capability centres in India, many within the past five years. These centres now anchor drug discovery analytics, regulatory affairs, clinical operations, pharmacovigilance, medical affairs, market access, and digital health engineering.
Penetration levels in global functions show the scale of India’s leadership:
- 45% in drug discovery
- 60% in regulatory affairs
- 54% in medical affairs
- 50% in commercial operations
On the enterprise side, India’s GCCs handle:
- 70% of finance operations
- 75% of HR functions
- 62% of supply chain management
- 67% of IT workloads
These figures underscore how India has become integral to global capability architectures across some of the world’s most complex sectors.
Challenges and Opportunities
Despite this momentum, challenges remain. Expanding high-value roles into Tier II cities requires continued investment in infrastructure, skill development and academic partnerships.
The race for specialised AI and data talent continues to intensify across sectors, particularly in life sciences and advanced engineering functions.
However, the opportunities outweigh the challenges. Industry experts predict that the next phase of GCC growth will be shaped by deeper collaboration between industry, academia and government, enabling India to sustain its competitive advantage in digital and domain-led capability building.
Looking Ahead Towards 2026
As the sector moves into 2026, three trends are expected to dominate:
- Co-innovation as the Default Model
GCCs will shift from execution to innovation, co-creating products, platforms and IP with global headquarters. - Acceleration of Tier-II GCC Hubs
More companies will distribute their high-value and specialised functions across a wider geography to tap into fresh talent and cost efficiencies. - A Talent-Centric Ecosystem
Investments in AI, data science, domain expertise and leadership development will shape India’s next capability leap.
Evolution was the definition for GCCs in 2025. With GCCs projected to grow to 230 and the leadership projected to cross 30,000 by 2030, India is poised to remain the world’s most dynamic GCC destination, and this is just the beginning.
