A shift is quietly taking place in India’s global capability centre (GCC) strategy as companies begin to look beyond traditional metro hubs. Rising costs, increasing talent attrition, and concentration risks in established cities are pushing organisations to rethink their location strategies.
Eastern India, especially Kolkata, is gaining attention as a promising destination. The city already hosts over 20 GCCs, as per recent EY estimates, attracting multinational companies from the US, Western and Northern Europe, the UK, Japan, and the UAE. A key driver behind this shift is access to high-quality talent at a more optimal cost.
“Kolkata or Eastern India, offers access to underleveraged, high-quality talent pools from premier institutes such as IITs, IIMs, that are not yet fully absorbed into the GCC ecosystem. This gives the region access to a high-quality talent pool at optimum cost,” Ratnadeep Banerjee, Site head, Asia Software R&D at Lexmark International India said.
Meanwhile, established hubs continue to expand. Workday has more than doubled its India workforce to 1,200 employees since the start of fiscal year 2026. The company operates across Mumbai, Chennai, and Pune, with plans to expand to Delhi and Bengaluru. In April, it announced an investment of ₹220 crore to launch a GCC in Chennai focused on product, technology, and enterprise AI. “We have seen strong momentum in the region, reflected in the steady expansion of our teams over the past year. Our commitment to the region goes beyond business growth…it’s about tapping into India’s deep talent pool, fostering innovation that shapes the global workplace,” said Sunil Jose, president – India, Workday.
Beyond expansion, companies are also rethinking how talent is built. Pegasystems Inc.’s Hyderabad centre has become its largest global developer hub, with over 1,200 developers, accounting for more than half of its global developer workforce. However, with AI rapidly changing skill requirements, organisations are focusing more on future-ready capabilities than just scale.
Innovation from GCCs is also gaining global visibility. Verizon developed VIKI (Verizon Interactive Knowledge Interface), an AI-powered platform that supports frontline teams handling billing, service issues, and customer interactions. Originating as a hackathon idea in India, it has now scaled globally.
At the same time, digital trust is becoming critical. GCCs are increasingly prioritising security, privacy, and compliance, adapting to regulations like DPDPA. Industry leaders from KPMG, Reckitt, and Carrier Technologies highlighted the growing importance of governance and accountability in managing complex data environments.
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