India’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) sector hit a new high, with office leasing by these units touching a record 31 million sqft in 2025, according to new research.
The report, published by real estate services firm JLL, noted that the surge underlined how global companies now saw India not just as a low-cost back office, but as a strategic hub for technology, R&D, analytics and high-end corporate services.
Metros still dominate, but the map is widening
JLL’s “India GCC Guide 2025” showed that more than 90 per cent of GCC activity remains concentrated in Tier 1 cities, which together host over 263 million sqft of Grade A office space occupied by these centres and account for 40 per cent of all office leasing over the past decade. Bengaluru led by a wide margin, commanding 34–39 per cent of national GCC activity and housing more than 900 units thanks to its deep tech talent, mature ecosystem and strong investor confidence.
Hyderabad emerged as the country’s healthcare‑biotech powerhouse, capturing 20–23 per cent of the GCC market with strengths in life sciences, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and analytics.
Pune accounted for 15–20 per cent of GCC activity, riding on its BFSI, automotive and engineering base, while Chennai cemented its position as a manufacturing and automotive hub with rising demand from IT, BFSI and engineering R&D players.
Delhi‑NCR evolved into a multi‑sector corporate services hub, and Mumbai remains the financial capital, drawing strategic banking and financial services GCCs.
Tier 2 cities become the next frontier
Even as metros dominate, JLL said that secondary markets such as Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Mysuru, Kochi, Lucknow and Visakhapatnam are rapidly transforming into sophisticated business hubs. These cities can offer 10–35 per cent cost savings on real estate and operations, along with access to fresh talent pools and improved infrastructure backed by state incentives and digital connectivity.
JLL estimated that more than 200 new GCCs entered India in the last two years, and projects that the total GCC footprint will cross 350 million sqft in the next three to four years, with US‑headquartered firms driving around 70 per cent of demand between 2018 and 2025.
The firm also noted that India currently employs over 1.9 million people in GCCs, representing a roughly $65‑billion market expected to grow at over 10 per cent annually till 2030, as centres shifted from cost optimisation to owning global mandates in AI, data, engineering and customer experience.
Dr Samantak Das, JLL India’s Chief Economist and Head of Research, called this “not just expansion but acceleration”, and argued that successful GCCs currently treat location strategy as a competitive differentiator and India as indispensable to global corporate strategy.
But what does this mean for Indians? More high‑skill jobs, deeper integration into global value chains, and a race to upgrade infrastructure mean we need talent to back it up.