Global capability centres (GCCs) in India have moved well beyond their original role as cost-efficient back offices. In 2026, their relevance will be judged by the depth of capabilities they bring, their ability to operate with resilience, and the tangible business impact they create for their parent organisations.
This shift reflects a broader rethinking by global enterprises about where innovation is built and where critical decisions are made. Amid economic volatility, regulatory pressure, and rapid advances in technology, GCCs are being pushed to respond faster, think more strategically, and scale with greater reliability.
Consequently, both the nature of work in India and the way GCCs are designed, governed, and led are undergoing a fundamental transformation.
The following top five trends highlight how GCC strategies around talent, operating models, and ownership are evolving, and what this means for organisations shaping their next phase of growth.
1. Continued expansion into tier-2/tier-3 cities, stronger ecosystem ties
To diversify risk and tap into wider talent pools, an increasing number of GCCs are moving beyond single-city footprints to establish smaller satellite centres in tier-2, 3 locations.
Alongside this geographic expansion, partnerships with universities, startups, and local innovation ecosystems are becoming central to GCC growth strategies.
These ecosystem-led approaches help build long-term capability—through joint research programmes, workforce skilling initiatives, and early exposure to emerging technologies. In this model, GCCs are no longer just delivery centres; they are evolving into connectors that bring together academia, startups, and global enterprise teams.
Industry reports underscore this momentum. An Inductus GCC report projected a 30–40% rise in demand for GCCs in tier-2 cities over the next few years. The shift is being driven by a combination of lower operating costs, access to quality talent, and higher employee retention rates than in larger metros.
An EY study indicated that GCCs operating in tier-2 cities achieved up to a 35% reduction in operational costs compared to tier-1 cities, translating into a 25% improvement in profitability.
As more global firms set up operations, these cities benefit from improved infrastructure and a better quality of life, further reinforcing their attractiveness as long-term investment destinations.
Cities such as Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Indore, Lucknow, Mysuru, and Mangaluru are increasingly emerging as preferred hubs in this next phase of GCC expansion.
2. More flexible work models and lighter real-estate footprints
Hybrid work is no longer a temporary adjustment; it has become a permanent operating model, and GCC real-estate strategies are evolving accordingly.
Rather than committing to large, long-term office footprints, many GCCs are moving toward flexible workspaces and shorter lease tenures that allow them to scale capacity up or down in line with business demand.
According to UnearthInsight projections, GCCs are expected to drive 160–200 million square feet of new office demand by 2030, with flexible and managed workspaces capturing a significant share of this growth.
Moreover, India’s Next Commercial Real Estate Wave report estimated that India’s commercial real estate office space stock is set to cross 1 billion sq ft by the end of 2025, making it the fourth-largest office market in the world. This area is set to double to 2 billion sq ft during 2036-2041. The commercial real-estate office space market is projected to grow to $120-130 billion (economic activity) by 2030, reflecting a strong 20-22% CAGR.
This shift also supports distributed hiring across multiple cities, including tier-2 locations, while preserving a strategic presence in major innovation hubs.
As a result, offices are being reimagined less as rows of fixed desks and more as collaboration-centric spaces, designed for teamwork, innovation labs, and secure zones for sensitive or regulated work, complementing a workforce that is increasingly hybrid by design.
3. Over 150 new GCCs in 2026
India is now home to more than 1,850 GCCs employing close to 2.2 million professionals, according to Tholons, and these centres have moved well beyond their original mandate.
They have become critical global hubs for AI, advanced analytics, product engineering, cybersecurity, and R&D. The momentum continued in 2026, with over 150 new GCCs setting up operations across the country.
Sources told AIM that Telangana alone attracted more than 75 greenfield GCCs in 2025, significantly ahead of Karnataka, which saw just over 40 new centres. This marks a clear inflection point, with Telangana emerging as the top destination for new GCC establishments in India, overtaking Karnataka for the first time.
Furthermore, India recorded 88 mega GCCs in 2025, and the number is projected to cross 230 by 2030, underscoring the rapid scale-up of large, high-impact global capability centres.
4. Nano GCCs are the Way Ahead
The future of GCCs is no longer anchored in scale, but in specialisation, resilience and the ability to build high-density talent hubs that directly power an enterprise’s most mission-critical work. This shift has led to the establishment of nano GCCs, a new construct that is rapidly gaining momentum.
Nano GCCs are capability-rich, leadership-heavy hubs, typically housing 50–150 skilled experts who work on advanced domains that demand precision, confidentiality, regulatory alignment and higher intellectual capital. These units are emerging as an alternative to the traditional large-format centres that have so far defined India’s GCC landscape.
According to India’s Next Commercial Real Estate Wave report, in 2025 alone, the country added around 101 new GCCs, with nearly 45–50% of them falling into the mid-sized and nano-GCC category. This marks a shift towards the kind of GCCs entering the Indian market.
5. GCC Hiring may Hit a Wall
By 2026, GCCs’ success in India will be measured less by scale and more by the value created. The most effective centres will operate as true extensions of the global enterprise—owning products, outcomes, and critical decisions rather than simply executing downstream work.
To enable this, GCCs will focus on building compact, high-impact, cross-functional teams that blend engineering, product thinking, and deep domain expertise, allowing for faster experimentation and quicker product releases.
Leadership density will become a defining trait, with fluid roles spanning design, engineering, and AI ethics, as top-tier GCCs prioritise depth, decision velocity, and execution speed over sheer headcount growth.
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