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1. Strong Growth of UK GCCs:
Over 130 UK firms have established 250+ GCC units in India, contributing USD 6.5 Bn to the Indian GCC economy in FY2024.
2. Talent and Cost Advantage:
India provides 2–5X talent density and offers 50% lower costs than the UK for setting up tech and digital teams.
3. Innovation Powerhouses:
UK GCCs in India are not just back offices but AI and digital transformation hubs, driving global innovations across industries.
4. Diverse Hubs Across India:
Major UK GCCs are based in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai, with Tier-II cities emerging as new talent hotspots.
5. Supportive Infrastructure & Policies:
India’s advanced infrastructure and state-level policies (e.g., Karnataka, Telangana) make it an attractive destination for GCC growth and scale.
Over the last few years, the UK and India have deepened their ties across trade, technology, education, and innovation. But in 2025, this partnership has crossed a new milestone. India has become a strategic node for UK-headquartered organizations looking to drive scale, innovation, and resilience.
It’s not just the world’s fifth-largest economy, it’s where the future of work, tech, and talent is converging. With a forecast to become the third-largest economy by 2030, India is no longer just a market companies want to serve – it’s the engine they want to build from.
Over 130 UK Global Capability Centers (GCCs) have been set up in India as of FY2024, employing more than 200,000 professionals. That makes them the second-largest GCC cohort in India, after the US.
The UK is the sixth-largest investor in India, having brought in USD 35 Bn since 2000. That capital hasn’t just created jobs – it has laid the foundation for long-term Digital and Engineering capability.
The “so what” is this: UK firms are not using India as a low-cost destination. They’re using it to solve for capability gaps at home, especially in areas like Engineering, AI, and Product Development – all while achieving speed, scale, and cost advantages.
India produces the highest number of STEM graduates globally and is home to 3.3 Mn Software Engineers - but scale is only part of the story.
While the global cost of setting up 100-member teams has increased by ~8%, India continues to offer up to 50% lower costs than the UK.
India also has the largest AI-ready workforce in the world, and UK Global Capability Centers are tapping into this with increasing urgency. Many have moved from pilot projects to production-scale AI programs, using Indian talent and tech ecosystems to drive the shift.
The real edge isn’t just affordability. It’s about being able to build high-performance teams fast, with access to adjacent capabilities in start-ups, academia, and R&D communities.
UK Global Capability Centers are no longer built just for efficiency. They are now being designed for growth, innovation, and value creation.
Many UK firms are leveraging India’s start-up ecosystem and co-innovation programs with universities to test, build, and scale ideas that would take significantly longer and cost far more elsewhere.
With a growing shortage of Engineering talent in the UK, GCCs in India are stepping in to build entire Product Development cycles – from design to deployment – accelerating speed-to-market.
Several UK Global Capability Centers have become global AI Centers of Excellence, driving enterprise-wide GenAI and Intelligent Automation initiatives, powered by India’s AI workforce and start-up ecosystem.
These centers are also consolidating shared services (HR, Finance, Legal, Procurement) into unified, tech-enabled hubs – creating leaner, faster, more intelligent business backbones.
We’re at a moment of inflection. UK companies are transforming how they operate – not just within the UK, but globally. And India is playing a central role in that transformation.
That’s why we’ve created the “UK Impact Report” - to bring clarity, data, and insight into how UK Global Capability Centers are evolving in India, what strategic levers they’re pulling, and what other firms can learn from their success.
This report goes beyond headline numbers to uncover the real shifts in capability, talent strategy, and innovation delivery. It is a blueprint for how UK businesses can harness India’s unique strengths to build a future-ready Global Enterprise.
A Global Capability Center (GCC), commonly referred to as a Captive Center or Global In-House Center (GIC), leverages the global talent pool and cost efficiency of the regions they operate in. A GCC is an offshore or nearshore entity fully owned and operated by a parent company. These centers provide a wide array of specialized services, ranging from information technology (IT) and research and development (R&D) to complex back-office functions. GCCs play a pivotal role in driving innovation, enhancing cost efficiency, and accessing diverse global talent pools at optimal cost.
India, is recognized as the GCC capital of the world and offers a powerful combination of skilled digital talent, cost competitiveness, a thriving innovation ecosystem, and a supportive policy environment. As of 2024, India hosts over 1,760 GCCs, which employ more than 1.9 million professionals across industries. But this is just the beginning. By 2030, the number of GCCs in India is expected to exceed 2,200, with an estimated workforce of over 2.7 million. India has clearly moved beyond being a low-cost destination—it is now a global hub for innovation, leadership in AI, sustainability, cybersecurity, and next-gen product development.
GCC growth in India is no longer limited to technology companies. Sectors such as healthcare and life sciences, BFSI, retail, manufacturing, automotive, and industrial engineering are seeing rapid expansion. These centers are evolving into sector-specific innovation hubs, often driving core R&D, digital transformation, AI-led solutions, and sustainable practices. By 2030, industry-specific GCCs are expected to contribute significantly to leadership, enterprise IP, product roadmaps, and global GTM (go-to-market) strategies.
Bengaluru is the GCC capital of India, also known as the ‘Silicon Valley of India,’ due to its thriving ecosystem, robust infrastructure, access to a deep talent pool, and an environment that fosters mobility and innovation. It hosts more than 875 GCCs in India, accounting for almost 29% of the total GCCs in the country.
Along with Bengaluru, Hyderabad is gaining momentum as a GCC hub due to its world-class infrastructure for office spaces, strong digital connectivity, SEZs, and business-friendly policies. Hyderabad is home to over 355 GCCs, accounting for almost 21% of the total GCCs in India. Emerging Tier I GCC cities include Chennai, Mumbai, and NCR, collectively contributing close to 92% of total GCCs in India. Other emerging hubs include Tier II cities such as Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Indore, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar, and Jaipur, which contribute around 7% of the total GCCs in India.
With 23+ years of expertise in setting and transforming 190+ GCCs, Zinnov’s approach to a frictionless GCC setup has helped customers reduce time to set up and time to value by 50%. The proven 3-phase model—Design, Implementation, and Governance—ensures hassle-free setup and operations.
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