Building a GCC in India in 2025: A Comprehensive Guide for Global Companies

India stands at the forefront of the growing GCC momentum, driven by its exceptional talent pool, cost efficiency, and well-established IT ecosystem. Between 2021 and 2023, over 150 multinational corporations established GCCs in India, underscoring the nation’s strategic importance in the global business landscape.

And not without reason. India’s Global Capability Centers have been providing a diverse array of end-to-end business services to their parent organizations, ranging from technology and IT services, to R&D, HR support, finance and accounting, legal services, customer service, and much more. Read on to learn how to build a GCC in India and the key factors that drive their success. 

Planning Your GCC

Experts firmly believe that India will continue to see the growth of the GCC ecosystem for the next decade, with a number of large global players across every industry establishing deep capabilities in the country. Setting up GCCs in India requires:

• Assessing Your Business Needs
  A strong foundation starts with a clear vision that matches the parent company’s long-term goals. Whether it’s operational efficiency, technological innovation, or global expansion, the GCC should be an extension of the parent company’s mission. 

• Choosing the Right Location
  From Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, to Pune and Delhi NCR – India offers a wide range of cities brimming with highly skilled talent, each hub specializing in specific industries. For example, Hyderabad has emerged as a key location for pharmaceutical companies who want to set up their GCCs in India. Companies must consider factors like proximity to suppliers and customers, employee accessibility, and operational costs.

Steps to Build a GCC

Building a successful GCC involves a strategic, phased approach:

• Developing a Business Case:
  

  Clearly articulates the strategic objectives, cost-benefit analysis, and expected ROI to ensure secure buy-in and funding.

• Creating a Roadmap:
  

  Covers aspects like location selection, team building, technology implementation, and process standardization.

• Legal and Compliance Considerations:
  

  Includes understanding labor laws, tax-related regulations, data privacy laws, and intellectual property rights in the chosen location.

• Infrastructure and Technology:
  

  Includes network connectivity, security systems, and IT infrastructure. Investing in the right technology tools and platforms can significantly enhance efficiency and productivity.

• Talent Acquisition and Management:
  

  Requires effective talent acquisition and management strategies. This involves identifying and attracting skilled professionals, providing comprehensive training, and fostering a positive work culture.

• Operational Setup:
  

  Involves defining roles and responsibilities, setting up processes, and implementing key performance indicators (KPIs). 

Best Practices for Building a Successful GCC

Parent organizations can utilize tried and tested approaches to ensure building GCCs seamlessly.

• Strategic Location
  

  Choosing the right location enhances talent acquisition, operational efficiency, and success through factors like a skilled workforce, tech ecosystem, business ease, and cost savings.

• Cultural Integration with the HQ
  

  Aligning the culture of the headquarters with the local environment boosts operational efficiency, employee satisfaction, and retention.

• Robust Technology Infrastructure
  

  Ensuring the availability of necessary technology and strong data security is essential when global companies decide to build a GCC.

• Detailed Governance Framework
  

  A clear governance framework aligns the GCC with company goals, supports decision-making, and enhances efficiency.

• Regulatory Compliance
  

  Compliance with local laws is ensured through due diligence, appointing a compliance officer, and setting up a solid framework.

• Partner Ecosystem
  

  Building a strong vendor ecosystem involves evaluating IT, HR, facilities, and legal services for expertise, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

Common Challenges in Setting Up a GCC

While setting up a GCC yields significant benefits, it also comes with certain challenges:

• Talent Acquisition and Retention
  Hiring top-tier talent alongside some of the biggest tech companies in the world, requires companies to navigate a highly competitive talent market. Competitive compensation packages, robust employee value propositions, and establishing a strong employer brand are key to attracting and retaining top talent in highly competitive markets like Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
• Cultural Integration
  Bridging cultural differences between the home office and the GCC can pose challenges, leading to miscommunication and potential friction. Establishing a unified organizational culture requires deliberate efforts in training, collaboration, and fostering mutual understanding.
• Regulatory Compliance
  Navigating complex local regulations, including labor laws, taxation, and data protection requirements, can be daunting. More importantly, non-compliance risks significant penalties and operational delays, making a robust compliance framework essential. Establishing a dedicated compliance team to monitor regulatory changes, conduct risk assessments, and ensure adherence to legal requirements is vital.
• Cost Management
  Balancing initial setup costs with long-term operational efficiency is key to maximizing ROI. Companies must account for expenses like infrastructure, recruitment, and training while staying within budget. Careful planning, cost optimization strategies, and leveraging economies of scale can help achieve cost savings without compromising quality.
• Scalability and Agility
  Designing processes and systems that can adapt to evolving business needs and future growth is essential. A flexible and agile approach, coupled with robust technology solutions, can enable the GCC to scale operations efficiently.
• Stakeholder Alignment
  Ensuring alignment between global leadership and local teams on goals and priorities is crucial for the GCC’s success. Regular communication, transparent reporting, and collaborative decision-making can help bridge the gap and foster a shared vision.

Measuring GCC Success

The performance of GCCs is tied to achieving strategic goals and delivering outcomes, where value may be measured via:

• Operational Efficiency
  Success in operational efficiency can be measured through key metrics such as process optimization, turnaround times, and productivity levels. Continuous improvement initiatives and data-driven decision-making further ensure sustained efficiency gains.
• Cost Efficiency
  Evaluating cost savings against predefined benchmarks and return on investment (ROI) provides a clear measure of cost effectiveness. A well-managed GCC demonstrates the ability to deliver high-value outcomes within budget constraints.
• Talent Acquisition and Retention
  Success in talent management is reflected in low attrition rates, high employee engagement scores, and the ability to attract top-tier talent. Building a robust pipeline of skilled professionals ensures long-term sustainability.
• Service Quality
  Ensuring high service quality involves implementing strong quality control and continuous improvement, particularly with remote teams. Service quality is assessed through customer satisfaction scores, adherence to service-level agreements (SLAs), and consistent delivery of high-performance outcomes.
• Alignment with Corporate Goals
  Measuring success requires tracking the GCC’s contribution to overarching business objectives, such as revenue growth, market expansion, or innovation. Regular alignment reviews ensure the GCC remains a strategic enabler for the parent organization.

Case Studies: Successful GCC Setups

A global airline giant based out of the US, known for its operational efficiency, has been working towards a digital revolution to integrate cloud computing systems. In this pursuit, the company was looking to expand outside its tech hubs. The airline partnered with ANSR in 2019 to develop a state-of-the-art Global Capability Center (GCC) in Bengaluru to scale its technological capabilities and harness the local IT prowess. 

In another case, a global payments technology company with its reach in over 200 countries was looking to boost its technical and digital capabilities. Their vision was to build a Bengaluru-based Technology Center of Excellence (TCoE) to innovate the next-generation payment solutions. It collaborated with ANSR to leverage our expertise and a vast network of 1.5 million tech professionals. 

At ANSR, our team of dedicated GCC specialists provides you with an end-to-end GCC setup solution – from the initial location strategy to talent acquisition, workspace and IT setup and many other aspects. To know more, get in touch with our team of experts.