India GCC location strategy

Where should you build your GCC?

Start with your mandate and compare every shortlisted location against the same capability, talent, cost, workplace and operating requirements. No city is preferred in advance.

Explore the planning framework Discuss locations

Equal assessment across locations

One assessment standard for every location.

Build the shortlist from client requirements and current evidence. City names, map placement and familiar market labels do not determine suitability.

Capability

Talent and leadership

Define the work and hiring plan

Validate role families, seniority, specialist skills, leadership, compensation and hiring capacity for the actual mandate in each location.

Readiness

Cost and operating conditions

Compare complete operating scenarios

Use the same scope to assess total cost, workplace, infrastructure, connectivity, suppliers, policy and incentive eligibility across the shortlist.

Resilience

Scale and continuity

Test the planned growth path

Assess expansion capacity, leadership continuity, concentration risk and business continuity against the same requirements in every location.

City evidence register

Use comparable evidence for every shortlisted location.

Profiles are listed alphabetically for navigation, without a ranking or preferred city. Current role benchmarks and commercial quotes must be obtained for the client’s mandate. Additional locations can be evaluated using the same framework.

Applicable public policy

Check current state policy, eligibility rules and official investment guidance for each shortlisted location.

Common evidence requirements

Use consistent definitions, timeframes and evidence quality for every location. Record gaps without assuming a location is better or worse.

Client-specific assessment

Compare validated evidence against the agreed roles, scale, cost, workplace, incentives, continuity and risk requirements.

City	Assessment status	Talent pool	Leadership depth	Compensation	Office cost	Connectivity	Policy / incentives	Continuity	Profile reference date
Bengaluru →	Evidence required	Role study required	Role study required	Current benchmark	Current quote	Route study	Karnataka GCC Policy ↗	BCP study	2026-08-22
Chennai →	Evidence required	Role study required	Role study required	Current benchmark	Current quote	Route study	Tamil Nadu GCC & R&D ↗	BCP study	2026-08-22
Hyderabad →	Evidence required	Role study required	Role study required	Current benchmark	Current quote	Route study	Invest Telangana ↗	BCP study	2026-08-22
Indore →	Evidence required	Role study required	Role study required	Current benchmark	Current quote	Route study	MP IT / ITeS Policy ↗	BCP study	2026-08-22
NCR / Noida →	Evidence required	Role study required	Role study required	Current benchmark	Current quote	Route study	UP GCC Policy ↗	BCP study	2026-08-22
Pune →	Evidence required	Role study required	Role study required	Current benchmark	Current quote	Route study	Maharashtra investment context ↗	BCP study	2026-08-22

STPI GCC growth publication ↗STPI statutory services ↗Download evidence template ↓

India capability map

Locations shown are examples for exploration. Apply the same role-level and micro-market evidence requirements to any location.

Illustrative locations · same assessment criteria

Illustrative validation priorities — user-adjusted, not market scores

Set priorities for the client’s mandate, then apply them consistently across every shortlisted location.

Talent pool availability

30%

Government policy & incentives

20%

Commercial space & operating cost

20%

Infrastructure & connectivity

15%

Scalability & ecosystem

10%

Risk & business continuity

Scale changes the evidence required

Define the centre size. Apply the same tests everywhere.

Headcount changes what must be validated. Assess every shortlisted location against the same requirements for the planned scale, without assigning a preferred city or tier.

GCC size	Talent and leadership	Workplace and infrastructure	Scale and continuity
Small · 50–100	Validate first-wave roles, specialist skills and leadership availability.	Confirm suitable space, connectivity, security and complete operating cost.	Test hiring pace, key-person dependencies and continuity coverage.
Medium · >100–500	Validate role mix, recruitment capacity, management depth and retention assumptions.	Confirm capacity for the planned growth stages and supplier readiness.	Test expansion options, leadership succession and operating resilience.
Large · >500–2,500	Validate workforce depth, leadership capacity and sustained hiring demand.	Compare workplace capacity, transport, infrastructure and total cost at scale.	Test growth capacity, concentration risk and alternate-site options.
Enterprise · >2,500	Validate multi-function leadership, workforce capacity and succession plans.	Assess phased capacity, service dependencies and infrastructure resilience.	Compare single-location and distributed scenarios against the same objectives.

Workplace strategy

Co-working, leased or purchased space? Choose for the operating stage.

Workplace choice should reflect launch speed, headcount certainty, security, brand, capital flexibility and long-term ownership goals.

Speed + flexibility

Co-working space

Best when launch speed matters, headcount is relatively small or uncertain, a temporary location is useful, and capital flexibility is important.

Control + scalability

Leased space

Well suited to medium and large GCCs with predictable growth, stronger security needs, employer branding and longer commitment.

Strategic ownership

Purchased space

Relevant where long-term presence, a large stable workforce, high control and strategic real-estate ownership justify the capital commitment.

Compare capability, size, city and workplace together.

Use the GCC Lab for a preliminary planning view, then validate role-level market data and client-specific constraints.

Open the GCC Lab Request location analysis