A 2025 Guide to Setting Up a GCC in India

Global capability centers today are evolving at a rapid pace. Inductus’ 2024 Annual Report reveals that roughly 60% of global companies have set up GCCs in India. Besides innovation and technological prowess, what remains integral to such developmental narrative is an exceptional commitment to talent empowerment, sustainable growth, and strategic expansion for long-term impact. However, setting up a successful Indian GCC comes with meticulous planning, rigorous brainstorming, and finally a strategic execution. Read on for more.

Why Focus on the GCC Set Up Process?

Indian GCCs will continue with their rapid expansion in 2025. This is in adherence to the expected 2,100 global capability centers by 2030 to reach the $100 billion mark. Therefore, as a foreign MNC, it is a good idea to understand how to set up a future-ready GCC. Having a clear understanding of the same will keep businesses updated with the intricacies and nuances of the process. For instance:

Effective budgeting and avoiding cost overruns and delays
Strategic alignment in terms of GCC model, location, and talent
Maintain operational resilience frameworks across verticals
Integrate the culture of your company within your Indian GCC
Knowledge sharing for cross-functional synergy.

Additionally, businesses are able to stay in loop and can offer strategic inputs as and when required. Below are the steps in detail to help you make informed choices.

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Step 1: Define Scope & Vision

This is where organizations can outline their goals, visions, and objectives for a strategic clarity within the global business framework. At this stage, primary objectives, core capabilities, growth roadmap, value proposition, operational scope, and long-term sustainability plan must be discussed and finalized with a collaborative approach.

Under this, businesses can discuss cost optimization, IT, Finance, R&D, technology development, third-party vendors, supply chain, workforce expansion, scalability initiatives, and the work model, whether hybrid GCC model or fully remote, to be adopted. Further, discussing the GCC model is also necessary as per business requirements. For instance, choosing the COPO Model by Inductus, India’s leading GCC-enabler, can be immensely fruitful since it offers a 90 days operational set up with 60-70% lower expenses.

Step 2: Identify the Right Location

Choosing the right location can be the defining force for your GCC. The top parameters to consider are tech talent availability, infrastructure, financial services, manufacturing strength, and proximity to government bodies, and regulatory policies which are of utmost importance.

Tier-1 cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune have a highly business-friendly ecosystem for global value centers and offer distinct advantages covering most of the above. Tier-2 cities like Jaipur, Vadodara, Nashik, and Chandigarh are rising powerhouses with comparatively lower expenses and a teeming pool of engineers, data scientists, and IT professionals.

Step 3 : Navigate Compliance Requirements

Navigating India’s regulatory landscape to set up GCCs means adhering to several tax, legal, and corporate governance regulations. This will include company registration, understanding industry-specific labor regulations and employee rights, IP licensing arrangement, ensuring compliance with India’s Data Protection Act 2023 and cybersecurity laws, and getting a clear picture about incentives like DESH Bill around SEZs.

Further, companies also need to know laws around Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), Engagement of Foreign Nationals, ESG and sustainability guidelines, Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), and minimum wages and wage compliance to stay in line with the needs of different jurisdictions of the country to minimize risks.

Step 4: Create a Workforce Strategy

India’s exceptionally skilled workforce is the backbone of global capability centers. All companies leverage their knowledge and expertise to power GCC operations. However, getting such employees onboard requires a structured process.

Indian GCCs fulfill this need with powerful recruitment strategies, training and upskilling programs, and positioning the GCC as a trusted employer to be able to attract best-in-class talent. Further, they offer hybrid and flexible work models which reduce attrition rates, unlike IT companies.

Additionally, these centers of excellence partner with top universities, research institutions, and recruitment firms to gain quick access to proficient and available professionals. Altogether, global capability centers in India have come a long way in aligning their in-house employees with global standards to achieve unmatched results.

Step 5: Integrate Technology

Technology is the driving force of GCC’s success in India. Therefore, companies must discuss implementing state-of-the-art technologies like cloud, and AI integration, cybersecurity frameworks, and enterprise-grade collaboration and communication tools. Further, India’s leading GCC enabler Inductus especially offers the Digital Twin technology in its services since our experts have a deep understanding and a proven success record in integrating the technology in several industries like healthcare and logistics.

Step 6: Plan Risk Management

This is a critical stage since risk identifying is a mandate for long-term sustainability. The core areas to focus are data security and privacy, operational risk management, disaster recovery and crisis management, and overall risk management. Further, a robust Business Continuity Planning (BCP) is put in place to adhere to disaster recovery and mitigation strategies.

Apart from this, performance metrics and KPIs are defined for process automation, operational efficiency, and lean management to ensure innovative output and cost savings.

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Key Considerations when Setting up a GCC in India

While India offers plenty of advantages in terms of cost, talent, and technology, below are a few parameters to consider when you are researching how to set up a GCC in India. Here’s a look:

Cultural Integration

India’s work culture and communication style is different from that of the US. This is why Indian GCCs implement leadership developmental sessions, cultural sensitivity training, and cross-border collaboration framework which positions Indian GCCs as digital twins of their global entities. It helps foster seamless global teamwork in your offshore development center without gaps in interaction and operational transparency

Budget Control

The COPO Model in Indian GCCs offers impressive cost benefits. However, proper planning is the cornerstone of keeping your finances under control. This way, businesses can receive the maximum value of their investment in salaries, real estate, and compliance so that operational expenses do not escalate.

Vendor Management

There is a vast number of vendors for different functions like IT, logistics, and facility managers in India which leaves foreign companies spoilt for choice. Therefore, it is necessary to shortlist partners vendors after checking for their credibility, past work experience, and general reputation in the industry. This also helps build a long-term partnership for future projects.

Conclusion

GCCs have emerged as building blocks of growth and innovation for global entities. Setting it up in India is not just for an offshore extension but to turn it into a strategic powerhouse that drives growth and innovation on a global scale. This is why businesses must consider partnering with Inductus GCC, the leading GCC enabler in India.

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We have demonstrated exceptional consulting and advisory skills in GCCs with a problem-solving motive and client-centric approach that has set us apart from the crowd. Further, our Integrated COPO and Digital Twin Framework Model has been specially designed for a global standard GCC service delivery to large and mid-sector firms.