From Back Office to Backbone: The Rise of GCCs in India
Emerging Strong: Projections suggest that by 2030, India could host as many as 2400 GCCs.
18 JUNE 2025 / 3 min read
Back in 1985, a little-known move by Texas Instruments in Bengaluru set off a chain reaction no one quite foresaw. The American tech company wasn’t here to outsource or to save money. It was here to build. It was here for talent.
What started as a modest experiment with a group of talented engineers turned into a global innovation hub for the tech major in the years to come.
Other global giants took notice — Citicorp, Hewlett-Packard and others. They too set up what were then called 'captive centres,' little more than extended arms of their global operations, mostly handling IT support or finance processing.
But what began as a cost-saving exercise soon turned into something far more strategic. India was changing and fast. The 1990s brought sweeping economic liberalisation, opening the doors to foreign investment. As the century turned, multinationals saw the opportunity not just to cut costs — but to create value.
After the early 2000s, the captive centres mushroomed rapidly in India. Global corporations realised that it is not just about low-cost workforce but the capability that exists in the country in terms of manpower, knowledge, and skills that can easily drive high-tech projects for them at an offshore location.
They started giving their Indian teams more complex work. Instead of simply processing payroll or maintaining IT infrastructure, these centres were suddenly handling software development, analytics, risk modeling, even product design. The term “captive centre” quietly faded, and a new one took its place: Global Capability Centre, or GCC.
By 2020, India had thousands of GCCs, with cities such as Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai joining Bengaluru in hosting these key centres of productivity and innovation. Global corporate titans were creating strategies out of India.
And it hasn’t slowed down.
According to the Ministry of Labour & Employment, as of early 2024 India hosted over 1,700 GCCs, collectively employing 1.9 million professionals and generating US$64.6 billion in annual revenue.
A number of factors have fueled India’s growth in this sector. The country has long benefited from a large pool of cost-effective, English-speaking talent in engineering and research. Government support has also played a crucial role, with both central and state policies helping to create a highly attractive investment climate for GCCs. This includes national tax breaks, SEZ benefits and state-level efforts to attract global companies.
In 2025, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched a national initiative to create a formal framework for supporting and expanding GCCs. The aim is clear: streamline policies, encourage investment, and ensure that India remains the first choice for global firms looking to set up strategic operations.
Interestingly, the landscape is shifting geographically, too. While Bengaluru remains the heart of the movement, tier-2 cities are increasingly pulling their weight. Cities such as Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar, and Vadodara are attracting serious interest. State governments are stepping in with incentives, making the pitch that these smaller cities offer talent without the traffic or real estate costs.
Take Uttar Pradesh, for example. It recently launched a dedicated GCC policy, encouraging companies to invest not just in Noida, but in Varanasi, Kanpur, and Gorakhpur as well. The vision is to create jobs, stimulate local economies, and distribute growth beyond metro boundaries.
The trajectory from 1985 to now has been impressive but what’s ahead might be even more compelling. Projections suggest that by 2030, India could host as many as 2,400 GCCs. The demand is being driven by new waves of technology—artificial intelligence, automation, clean energy, climate-tech — and global businesses are increasingly leaning on India not just to support these innovations, but to lead them.
There was a time when the phrase “back office” was almost synonymous with India. Today, it’s more accurate to say that India is the nerve centre of the global enterprise. The country has positioned itself not just as an execution partner but as a strategic driver of the digital economy.
And that journey is far from over.
