<p>Bengaluru: Bengaluru continues to be the preferred location for global capability centres (GCCs), hosting close to 300 Forbes Global 2000 companies and employing around 5,60,000 professionals, ANSR’s quarterly report for the October-December quarter (Q3) showed on Tuesday.</p>.<p>GCCs are an independent but fully owned subsidiary of a multinational company primarily assigned with data, research and development (R&D) and product innovation.</p>.<p>ANSR, which is also India’s largest GCC enabler, is bullish on Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and considers Chennai to be a close competitor to the two cities when it comes to GCCs choosing locations to set up in India based on talent pool. </p>.<p>“We are seeing banking and financial services and insurance (BFSI) becoming a driver of GCC growth, followed by retail, healthcare and even travel and transportation because they are impacted significantly by technology,” Vikram Ahuja, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, told DH in an exclusive interaction.</p>.India’s GCC boom: Road ahead not free of hurdles.<p>By 2030, GCCs in India could employ nearly 2 million professionals. As of 2024, more than 450 Forbes Global 2000 companies have established GCCs in India, employing more than 1.3 million professionals. </p>.<p>Apart from metros hosting GCCs, there has been a significant interest and expansion into tier 2 cities, a trend which will continue in the coming years. Moreover, attention is now moving towards emerging technology for these GCCs.</p>.<p>The expansion is aimed towards companies building centres of excellence (CoE) in niche areas such as analytics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and IT operations on the basis of the local talent availability while addressing global business needs.</p>.<p>While talent is top priority for GCCs when setting up operations, a good and affordable infrastructure has also been a key ask, as per ANSR. However, India’s top cities continue to be plagued with public infrastructure and connectivity issues.</p>.<p>“Infrastructure often does come up as a concern because you want to make it easy to attract talent and retain them. Logistics of travel to and from office becomes important, especially today when companies are looking at getting back into office,” Ahuja said.</p>.<p>“Although there are certain market realities that cannot be changed. So if you have a city that has an infrastructural problem, then you're clinging onto the hope that overtime it would get better and other factors to consider.”</p>.<p>Over 8.2 million square feet of space was leased by GCCs in the third quarter of 2024. They took a substantial chunk of 2024’s record breaking 21.7 million square feet of leasing activity in Bengaluru, with around 55% of Bengaluru’s Grade-A office space demand coming from GCCs, according to Colliers India.</p>.<p>As of 2024, most of these companies come from North America, followed by Europe and Japan. Middle Eastern companies, particularly from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are increasingly establishing GCC operations in India, added the report.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Bengaluru continues to be the preferred location for global capability centres (GCCs), hosting close to 300 Forbes Global 2000 companies and employing around 5,60,000 professionals, ANSR’s quarterly report for the October-December quarter (Q3) showed on Tuesday.</p>.<p>GCCs are an independent but fully owned subsidiary of a multinational company primarily assigned with data, research and development (R&D) and product innovation.</p>.<p>ANSR, which is also India’s largest GCC enabler, is bullish on Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and considers Chennai to be a close competitor to the two cities when it comes to GCCs choosing locations to set up in India based on talent pool. </p>.<p>“We are seeing banking and financial services and insurance (BFSI) becoming a driver of GCC growth, followed by retail, healthcare and even travel and transportation because they are impacted significantly by technology,” Vikram Ahuja, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, told DH in an exclusive interaction.</p>.India’s GCC boom: Road ahead not free of hurdles.<p>By 2030, GCCs in India could employ nearly 2 million professionals. As of 2024, more than 450 Forbes Global 2000 companies have established GCCs in India, employing more than 1.3 million professionals. </p>.<p>Apart from metros hosting GCCs, there has been a significant interest and expansion into tier 2 cities, a trend which will continue in the coming years. Moreover, attention is now moving towards emerging technology for these GCCs.</p>.<p>The expansion is aimed towards companies building centres of excellence (CoE) in niche areas such as analytics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and IT operations on the basis of the local talent availability while addressing global business needs.</p>.<p>While talent is top priority for GCCs when setting up operations, a good and affordable infrastructure has also been a key ask, as per ANSR. However, India’s top cities continue to be plagued with public infrastructure and connectivity issues.</p>.<p>“Infrastructure often does come up as a concern because you want to make it easy to attract talent and retain them. Logistics of travel to and from office becomes important, especially today when companies are looking at getting back into office,” Ahuja said.</p>.<p>“Although there are certain market realities that cannot be changed. So if you have a city that has an infrastructural problem, then you're clinging onto the hope that overtime it would get better and other factors to consider.”</p>.<p>Over 8.2 million square feet of space was leased by GCCs in the third quarter of 2024. They took a substantial chunk of 2024’s record breaking 21.7 million square feet of leasing activity in Bengaluru, with around 55% of Bengaluru’s Grade-A office space demand coming from GCCs, according to Colliers India.</p>.<p>As of 2024, most of these companies come from North America, followed by Europe and Japan. Middle Eastern companies, particularly from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, are increasingly establishing GCC operations in India, added the report.</p>