Setting Up a GCC in India: Costs, Timelines and Hiring (2026)
A Global Capability Centre is a company-owned offshore unit that does strategic work for its parent: engineering, research, finance, analytics, customer support. It is not a vendor arrangement. You own the centre, you employ the people, and you keep the intellectual property.
India hosts over 1,700 of them. Bangalore alone has more than 500, with Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Delhi NCR each above 100. That density is the point and also the problem: the talent is there, and so is everyone competing for it.
This guide covers what a centre costs, how long it takes to build, and what to expect once it is running.
What an engineer actually costs
Fully loaded means salary, statutory contributions, benefits, infrastructure and management overhead. Annual, per person:
| Experience | Fully loaded cost per year |
|---|---|
| Junior, 0 to 3 years | USD 15,000 to 25,000 |
| Mid-level, 3 to 7 years | USD 25,000 to 45,000 |
| Senior, 7 to 12 years | USD 45,000 to 75,000 |
| Engineering managers and architects | USD 60,000 to 100,000 |
Against equivalent US costs that is usually a 60 to 75 percent saving on a per-engineer basis.
Location moves this. Hyderabad runs roughly 15 to 20 percent below Bangalore on cost, with faster government approvals. Bangalore holds the deeper talent pool and the more mature ecosystem, which matters if you need very niche skills or plan to pass 300 people. Plenty of large firms run centres in both.
Three ways to set one up
| Model | How it works | Time to first hire | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build | Incorporate your own Indian entity, then hire into it | Two to four months | Long-term centres with committed headcount |
| EOR first | An Employer of Record employs your team while your entity is incorporating, then transfers them across | Days | Starting before the entity is ready, or testing the model |
| Build, operate, transfer | A partner runs the centre, then hands it over | Weeks | Companies wanting operational cover during the ramp |
The models are not exclusive. Starting under an EOR and transferring to your own entity once it is live is the most common route, because every month of delayed hiring is a month of savings you never collect.
Where the centres are
India hosts more than 1,700 GCCs. Bangalore alone has over 500, and Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Delhi NCR each host more than 100. Technology firms account for roughly 60 percent of all centres, which is why engineering salaries in these cities move faster than the wider market. Tier-2 cities are increasingly used to reach talent pools the metros have priced up.
How long a team takes to build
A 50-person team takes 12 to 16 weeks with dedicated recruitment effort. The first four to six weeks go on leadership and anchor hires; the rest builds out behind them. Using an EOR for early recruits while the entity is still incorporating typically saves four to six weeks overall.
Time to fill a role runs at an industry average of about 45 days. An established recruitment operation brings that to 25 to 30.
What hiring costs
| Channel | Cost per hire |
|---|---|
| Recruitment agency | 8.33 percent of annual CTC, roughly one month’s salary |
| Direct sourcing and referrals | 3 to 5 percent of CTC |
| Campus | 1 to 2 percent of CTC |
Blended across a typical centre that lands somewhere between 50,000 and 1,50,000 rupees per position. The channel mix is the lever: centres that lean on referrals and direct sourcing run 30 to 40 percent below agency-dependent ones.
Attrition, and why it dictates your hiring plan
Attrition across Indian GCCs averaged 9 percent in 2025, down from 13 percent in 2023 (EY GCC Pulse Survey, November 2025). That average hides a wide spread. Mid-level engineering roles in Bengaluru and Hyderabad are commonly quoted at 18 to 25 percent, while Tier-2 centres tend to hold 12 to 15 percent.
Work through what that means for your own mix. At the 9 percent average a 200-person centre replaces about 18 people a year. The same centre built mainly from mid-level engineers in Bengaluru could be replacing 36 to 50. Those are replacement hires before a single growth hire. Recruitment is not a project that finishes when the centre opens; it is a standing function.
Compensation is the main lever, and matching base salary alone is not how it is done. A competitive offer usually combines base pay at 90 to 100 percent of market median, variable pay at 10 to 20 percent, equity from the parent, and benefits and flexibility that Indian IT services firms generally do not match.
Permanent or contract
Most centres now run both. Permanent hires hold the core product and domain knowledge. Contract staff cover surge work, migrations and specialist skills that are not needed year round. Deciding the split early is easier than converting people later.
Compliance and payroll
Once the centre employs people, Indian labour law applies in full.
The four Labour Codes took legal effect on 21 November 2025, and the Central Rules were notified on 8 May 2026. The definition of wages now requires basic pay to be at least 50 percent of total remuneration, which changes how salaries are structured and raises statutory contributions for anyone whose package was heavily allowance-weighted.
Running monthly:
- Provident Fund, 12 percent employee and 12 percent employer, mandatory at 20 or more employees
- ESIC, 0.75 percent employee and 3.25 percent employer, from 10 employees where gross wages are 21,000 rupees or below
- Professional Tax, levied by state, rates vary
- Gratuity, after five years of service in establishments with 10 or more employees
- TDS on salary, deducted and deposited monthly
State rules are still arriving unevenly, so a centre in Karnataka does not face the same position as one in Maharashtra. Multi-city centres need this tracked per state rather than on a single national template.
Working out whether it pays back
Setup cost, ramp curve and attrition together decide when a centre breaks even, and the answer is different at 100, 300 and 500 people. The short version is that larger centres break even faster, because setup cost does not scale linearly with headcount while savings do.
That calculation deserves its own treatment. See the detailed break-even models for worked year-by-year numbers at each size.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a GCC and outsourcing?
A GCC is your own captive team. You control the talent, the priorities and the intellectual property. Outsourcing hands the work to a vendor who manages their own staff to their own standards.
How long does it take to set up a GCC in India?
Incorporating an entity takes two to four months. Under an EOR-first model the first hires can be onboarded in days, with the entity following behind.
Can we start before the entity exists?
Yes. An Employer of Record can legally employ the team from day one and transfer them to your entity once it is live. Agree the transfer mechanism before you sign, including continuity of service and accrued gratuity.
Bangalore or Hyderabad?
Bangalore for the deepest talent pool and the most mature ecosystem, particularly above 300 people or for niche skills. Hyderabad for 15 to 20 percent lower cost and faster approvals. Many companies eventually run both.
What attrition should we plan for?
Around 9 percent as a sector average (EY GCC Pulse Survey, November 2025), but plan against your own mix: mid-level engineering roles in Bengaluru and Hyderabad are commonly quoted at 18 to 25 percent. Build the replacement hiring into the plan from the start rather than treating it as an exception.
How do we keep engineering standards consistent with headquarters?
The centres that manage it integrate India engineers into global sprints and planning rather than treating them as a separate delivery unit, share coding standards and review processes, and rotate people between locations even if only virtually.
How TMS can help
Team Management Services has run HR outsourcing from India since 2006. For a company building a capability centre here, that covers the operational layer rather than the strategy:
- Employer of Record. Hire and pay your India team before your entity exists, then transfer them across when it is ready.
- Payroll outsourcing. Salaries, PF, ESIC, Professional Tax and TDS, filed on time, across states.
- Statutory compliance. Registrations and returns under the Labour Codes, tracked state by state.
- IT staffing and contract staffing. Engineers and specialists on flexible terms alongside your permanent team.
We are not a consulting firm and will not pitch you a strategy deck. What we do is the compliance and payroll work that has to be right every month.
Planning a centre in India?
Tell us the functions, the city and the headcount plan. We will come back with a written cost breakdown separating salary, statutory contributions and our fee.