GCCs Continue to Expand in India led by Small to Mid-Sized Companies Most of these GCCs are driven by quality over cost focussing on niche services, specialised tasks, or innovation-driven projects.

By Ayushman Baruah

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Global capability centres (GCCs) continue to expand in India, mainly led by the mid- to small-sized companies expanding their operations. Most of these GCCs are driven by quality over cost focussing on niche services, specialised tasks, or innovation-driven projects.

Recently, General Mills India Center, has inaugurated a new satellite office in Pune to support increasing business demands and will house employees from the Digital & Technology function, a vital pillar of the company's global innovation and growth strategy.

Spanning 5,500 sq. ft., the new office features "state-of-the-art infrastructure, tech-enabled workstations, and collaborative spaces designed to enhance productivity and well-being."

Gautam Kaul, Director - Global Workplace Strategy & Solutions, General Mills India Center, said. "Our new office in Pune is more than a geographic expansion, it represents our commitment to continue to invest in new talent to drive growth, innovation, collaboration, and impact across General Mills."

Last year, Metso Outotec, a global player in sustainable technology and services for the mining, aggregates, recycling, and process industries, inaugurated a new engineering centre in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.

To strengthen the ecosystem, GCC operators are emerging to help startups and mid-sized companies build and run their India teams end-to-end. For example, InCommon, backed by Better Capital, just announced the launch of GCC 2.0 – a full-stack operator model that claims to offer growth-stage and PE/VC-backed companies the same India build playbook large enterprises use, but faster and lighter.

There are more than 1,700 GCCs in India, powering product, engineering, and operations for some of the world's most respected companies. Large enterprises looking to set up in India have long benefited from well-defined playbooks and dedicated partners, as most existing enablers are built around large, high-value contracts.

But growth-stage and mid-sized companies do not have the same access. Instead, they are left to piece together a patchwork of recruiters, IT vendors, and payroll platforms on their own, often losing time and control in the process. Building fast and well in India becomes a fragmented, costly effort. GCC 2.0 is built with an aim to change that.

"India has the depth of talent and leadership companies need," said Piyush Kedia, Co-Founder & CEO of InCommon. "But many great VC and PE-backed companies are pushed to look at other hubs like Poland or Eastern Europe - not because they prefer them, but because no one in India owns the full journey. Our goal is to make India the default choice by giving them the same speed, structure, and quality they expect elsewhere."

InCommon has helped build teams for portfolio companies of Lightspeed, Partners Group, Tiger Global, and Y Combinator, across healthcare, SaaS, and IT services. With GCC 2.0, it aims to make India the most trusted global extension for companies looking to scale fast and well.

GCCs continue to lead office absorption in India despite global headwinds including tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and layoffs in IT/ITeS sectors. Office absorption continued to soar by 34 per cent – from approx. 31.3 million sq. ft. in the first 9 months of 2024 to approx. 42 million sq. ft. in 9 months of 2025. Back in the corresponding period in 2019 when office demand was high, the net absorption stood at approx. 32.3 million sq. ft. in the top 7 cities – indicating a 30 per cent growth in 2025.

"Multiple factors are driving office space demand in the country despite all headwinds. GCCs are a major driver of office space leasing in the top 7 cities," says Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Group. "For instance, out of the total gross office leasing of 58.3 million sq. ft. in 9 months of 2025, over 40 per cent or approx. 23.3 million sq. ft. was leased by the GCCs alone. Bengaluru saw the highest gross leasing of 8.3 million sq. ft. by GCCs, followed by Pune with 3.73 million sq. ft. and Chennai with 3.6 million sq. ft."

Ayushman Baruah

Former Regional Bureau Head

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