Large non-American multinational companies will drive the next phase of the growth of the global capability centres (GCC) in India, experts told ET. Companies headquartered in Japan, Australia, UK and Europe are eyeing India as the country gradually becomes a premier destination for offshore centres, they added.
ANSR, a company that helps Fortune 500 enterprises build, scale, and run GCCs, said at least 125 of the Fortune 500 enterprises have their GCCs in India among multiple MNCs across the globe. Currently 70% of GCC based in India are US and Canadian companies.

“And now an increasing number of European, Australian, and even Japanese MNCs are going to set up base here in the next phase of growth,” said Lalit Ahuja, founder and CEO of ANSR.
This, he reasons, is driven largely by the fact that global companies are reinventing themselves as technology companies and undertaking massive transformation programmes. “And the scale of technology talent that they need can only be addressed from India.”

After 65 new centres were opened in 2022, last year had a challenging start and yet the second half picked up with 21 centres established between July and September.

Also read | Adidas to set up its first Asia GCC outside China in Tamil Nadu
Of the 21, at least one third were set up by non-American companies including Valtech Mobility (headquartered in Germany), Pioneer, Socionext (Japan), RHI Magnesita (Austria), cybersecurity solutions provider Heimdal (Denmark) and Insud Pharma (Spain).
“India is rapidly emerging as a global leader in hosting GCCs. Companies from diverse regions like Europe (Germany, UK, France), Asia (Japan, South Korea, Singapore), Australia, and Canada are establishing GCCs of various sizes and capacities in India,” said Palash Gupta, GCC & Startup thought leader and member of Nasscom. Gupta is also the R&D & engineering leader at Verint India.

Asian companies are raising their play for India’s GCC market, as per a research report by real estate consulting firm CBRE, released in November.

“During 2022-H1 2023, Asian companies accounted for only about 4% of the total leasing by GCCs. However, going forward, we expect Asian corporates to see greater value in setting up their GCCs in India as they look towards global expansion. Our proven track record of efficient delivery and quality while working with North American and European majors would add to our appeal amongst Asian firms,” the report highlighted.

Also read | India’s tech chops help GCCs to look within for solutions

GCCs are offshore development centres that enable delivery of a range of solutions around back office support and IT functions, location assessment, facility and real estate, recruitment and human resources support.

There is an increasing presence of companies in India like Bosch, SAP Labs (both headquartered in Germany), Samsung, LG (South Korea), Nokia (Finland, Ericsson (Sweden), Swiss Re Group, ABB (Switzerland), Airbus, Schneider Electric (France), Philips (the Netherlands).

“The (Indian) market no longer thrives on cost arbitrage but has graduated to becoming a scalable talent and capability hub that generates and nurtures diverse talents delivering quality value add for the client facing teams… We recently set up our Data, Digital & Tech centre of excellence in Hyderabad,” said Amit Kalra, MD & head, Swiss Re Global Business Solution Centres India, whose Bengaluru and Hyderabad centres account for almost 15% of the Swiss Re global employee base.

The outlook over next year is to grow to 2,500 (employees) making us the second largest office of Swiss Re group after the headquarters in Zurich, Kalra added.

As of FY2023, the GCC landscape in India has swelled to over 1,580 centres, boasting a market size of $46 billion with a workforce crossing 1.66 million, according to a Nasscom-Zinnov report released in December. By 2025, the country is poised to have 1,900 such centres with the market size touching $60 billion.

Large non-American multinational companies will drive the next phase of the growth of the global capability centres (GCC) in India, experts told ET. Companies headquartered in Japan, Australia, UK and Europe are eyeing India as the country gradually becomes a premier destination for offshore centres, they added.
ANSR, a company that helps Fortune 500 enterprises build, scale, and run GCCs, said at least 125 of the Fortune 500 enterprises have their GCCs in India among multiple MNCs across the globe. Currently 70% of GCC based in India are US and Canadian companies.

“And now an increasing number of European, Australian, and even Japanese MNCs are going to set up base here in the next phase of growth,” said Lalit Ahuja, founder and CEO of ANSR.
This, he reasons, is driven largely by the fact that global companies are reinventing themselves as technology companies and undertaking massive transformation programmes. “And the scale of technology talent that they need can only be addressed from India.”

After 65 new centres were opened in 2022, last year had a challenging start and yet the second half picked up with 21 centres established between July and September.

Also read | Adidas to set up its first Asia GCC outside China in Tamil Nadu
Of the 21, at least one third were set up by non-American companies including Valtech Mobility (headquartered in Germany), Pioneer, Socionext (Japan), RHI Magnesita (Austria), cybersecurity solutions provider Heimdal (Denmark) and Insud Pharma (Spain).
“India is rapidly emerging as a global leader in hosting GCCs. Companies from diverse regions like Europe (Germany, UK, France), Asia (Japan, South Korea, Singapore), Australia, and Canada are establishing GCCs of various sizes and capacities in India,” said Palash Gupta, GCC & Startup thought leader and member of Nasscom. Gupta is also the R&D & engineering leader at Verint India.

Asian companies are raising their play for India’s GCC market, as per a research report by real estate consulting firm CBRE, released in November.

“During 2022-H1 2023, Asian companies accounted for only about 4% of the total leasing by GCCs. However, going forward, we expect Asian corporates to see greater value in setting up their GCCs in India as they look towards global expansion. Our proven track record of efficient delivery and quality while working with North American and European majors would add to our appeal amongst Asian firms,” the report highlighted.

Also read | India’s tech chops help GCCs to look within for solutions

GCCs are offshore development centres that enable delivery of a range of solutions around back office support and IT functions, location assessment, facility and real estate, recruitment and human resources support.

There is an increasing presence of companies in India like Bosch, SAP Labs (both headquartered in Germany), Samsung, LG (South Korea), Nokia (Finland, Ericsson (Sweden), Swiss Re Group, ABB (Switzerland), Airbus, Schneider Electric (France), Philips (the Netherlands).

“The (Indian) market no longer thrives on cost arbitrage but has graduated to becoming a scalable talent and capability hub that generates and nurtures diverse talents delivering quality value add for the client facing teams… We recently set up our Data, Digital & Tech centre of excellence in Hyderabad,” said Amit Kalra, MD & head, Swiss Re Global Business Solution Centres India, whose Bengaluru and Hyderabad centres account for almost 15% of the Swiss Re global employee base.

The outlook over next year is to grow to 2,500 (employees) making us the second largest office of Swiss Re group after the headquarters in Zurich, Kalra added.

As of FY2023, the GCC landscape in India has swelled to over 1,580 centres, boasting a market size of $46 billion with a workforce crossing 1.66 million, according to a Nasscom-Zinnov report released in December. By 2025, the country is poised to have 1,900 such centres with the market size touching $60 billion.