A Global Capability Centre is your own company's operation in India, not a vendor's. We've built these before, as wholly-owned subsidiaries for software companies extending product, engineering, and shared-services work into Bengaluru. This is the same incorporation, FEMA reporting, and board governance we run for every entity whose ledger we own, applied to a structure built to be yours from day one.
What a GCC actually is
A GCC (also called a GIC, Global In-House Centre) is a wholly-owned subsidiary that performs work for its own parent, not a third party. That distinction changes almost everything downstream of it: the entity is capitalised by the parent rather than paid a fee, its transactions are almost entirely related-party and governed by transfer pricing rules rather than commercial contracts, and its board answers to the parent, not to a services agreement. Confusing a GCC's setup with an outsourcing vendor's is where most of the avoidable cost and delay in this process comes from.
Why India, why Bengaluru
India remains the most established base for this model: a large, English-speaking, technically trained workforce; a legal and accounting profession fluent in servicing foreign parents; and, in Bengaluru specifically, the deepest concentration of GCCs already operating, which means the talent pool, the vendor ecosystem, and the regulatory familiarity are all mature. That maturity is also why the honest comparison across Indian cities isn't "which is best" but "which fits your function": covered in full on the location strategy page below.
What a GCC actually costs
Cost varies with function and headcount, but as a market reference: full setup (entity, office, leadership hiring, and the first operating team) typically runs from the low hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting and setup fees for a 30-to-100-person centre, with total first-year cost (talent, real estate, and operations included) commonly landing between one and three million dollars for a mid-sized centre. Use our GCC cost calculator for a directional range based on your own headcount and function. That range is also why the commercial model matters as much as the technical one: a parent evaluating a GCC needs to know its number before it commits, not discover it through change orders after incorporation. We scope and cost your specific setup as a written, fixed-fee proposal before any work begins, on the same five-business-day timeline as everything else we quote.
The six decisions that set up a GCC
In order, and each with its own page: choosing the entity and ownership structure, incorporating and registering it, choosing where it sits and under which scheme, building the talent and employment framework, setting the transfer pricing and tax position, and putting in place the governance that keeps a wholly-owned subsidiary defensible on audit.
01
Entity & Structure
The vehicle you choose determines what the entity can do, who can sit on its board, and how the parent gets money in and profit out. Get this decision right before anything else moves.
02
Setup & Registration
Incorporation is the fast part. The registrations and RBI reporting around it are where timelines actually slip, and where a missed 30-day window turns into a penalty.
03
Location Strategy
There is no single best Indian city for a GCC, and we won't pretend there is. The right answer depends on what your function actually needs. Here's how we frame it by priority, not by ranking.
04
Talent & Hiring
A GCC's entire value case rests on the people it hires. The compliance layer around employment exists to protect both them and the parent's IP, not to slow hiring down, if it's built correctly from the first offer letter.
05
Tax & Transfer Pricing
A GCC almost never sells to a third party. Its entire revenue is the parent's payment for services rendered, which means transfer pricing, not sales tax, is the tax question that actually governs it.
06
Governance & Operations
Almost every transaction a GCC makes is with its own parent. That's precisely why its governance and documentation have to be cleaner than an arm's-length business's, not looser.
Proof, not a pitch
A Global Capability Centre, live in nine weeks
International companies building in India
Weighing a boutique, partner-led firm against a Big 4 for the setup itself? See the honest comparison on our Boutique vs Big 4 page.
The six decisions that set up a GCC
In order, and each with its own page: choosing the entity and ownership structure, incorporating and registering it, choosing where it sits and under which scheme, building the talent and employment framework, setting the transfer pricing and tax position, and putting in place the governance that keeps a wholly-owned subsidiary defensible on audit.
01
Entity & Structure
The vehicle you choose determines what the entity can do, who can sit on its board, and how the parent gets money in and profit out. Get this decision right before anything else moves.
02
Setup & Registration
Incorporation is the fast part. The registrations and RBI reporting around it are where timelines actually slip, and where a missed 30-day window turns into a penalty.
03
Location Strategy
There is no single best Indian city for a GCC, and we won't pretend there is. The right answer depends on what your function actually needs. Here's how we frame it by priority, not by ranking.
04
Talent & Hiring
A GCC's entire value case rests on the people it hires. The compliance layer around employment exists to protect both them and the parent's IP, not to slow hiring down, if it's built correctly from the first offer letter.
05
Tax & Transfer Pricing
A GCC almost never sells to a third party. Its entire revenue is the parent's payment for services rendered, which means transfer pricing, not sales tax, is the tax question that actually governs it.
06
Governance & Operations
Almost every transaction a GCC makes is with its own parent. That's precisely why its governance and documentation have to be cleaner than an arm's-length business's, not looser.
Proof, not a pitch
A Global Capability Centre, live in nine weeks
International companies building in India
Common questions
What is a Global Capability Centre (GCC)?
A wholly-owned subsidiary that performs work for its own parent company, not a third party. That's what distinguishes it from an outsourcing vendor: the entity is capitalised by the parent, and its transactions are governed by transfer pricing rules rather than a commercial contract.
How long does it take to set up a GCC in India?
Timelines vary with structure and location, but a full setup, from incorporation through hiring, can be completed inside nine weeks when incorporation, FDI reporting, and registrations are sequenced in parallel rather than run one after another. See our case study for a real example.
Should a GCC be set up under SEZ, STPI, or neither?
It depends on the operating model: SEZ suits an export-focused function that can commit to a dedicated campus, STPI gives customs and procedural facilitation without that commitment, and non-STPI (DTA) offers the most flexibility with no export obligation. The full breakdown is on our Location Strategy page.
Which Indian city is best for a GCC?
There isn't a single best city; it depends on what the function needs. Bengaluru has the deepest tech talent pool, Hyderabad offers similar talent at a lower cost, Pune suits manufacturing-adjacent functions, Chennai and the NCR suit BFSI back-office work, and GIFT City suits regulated financial services.
How is a GCC taxed in India?
Almost all of a GCC's revenue comes from its own parent, so pricing is governed by transfer pricing rules under a cost-plus, arm's-length model, with Safe Harbour Rules available for eligible service categories. Details are on our Tax & Transfer Pricing page.
How much does it cost to set up a GCC in India?
It depends heavily on function and headcount, but as a market reference, full setup (entity, office, leadership hiring, and the first operating team) typically runs from the low hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting and setup fees for a 30-to-100-person centre, with total first-year cost commonly landing between one and three million dollars for a mid-sized centre. We scope and cost your specific setup as a fixed-fee proposal before any work begins, so the number is known upfront rather than assembled from change orders.
GCC-specific insights
Choosing your GCC’s entity: why a wholly-owned subsidiary wins almost every time
A GCC almost always incorporates as a wholly-owned subsidiary. Here’s why WOS beats LLP and branch office, and what the funding and IP decisions cost later.
Read the briefing →The FC-GPR deadline: why the RBI filing catches first-time GCC parents
FC-GPR must be filed within 30 days of share allotment, and the figures must match your FIRC and valuation certificate exactly. Where GCC parents go wrong.
Read the briefing →The employment compliance layer a GCC needs before its first hire
Appointment letters, IP assignment, PF and ESI, and the POSH Internal Committee: what a GCC’s employment framework needs before its first hire goes live.
Read the briefing →A GCC’s related-party paperwork has to be airtight, because every transaction is with the parent
Section 188 disclosure, board approval, and transfer-pricing consistency: why a GCC’s related-party paperwork carries more weight than an arm’s-length deal.
Read the briefing →SEZ, STPI, or neither: choosing your GCC's regulatory scheme
The scheme question is separate from the city question, and it's the one that actually determines your GCC's tax and operating flexibility.
Read the briefing →GCC transfer pricing: what changed for FY 2025-26, and what's still proposed
CBDT's latest Safe Harbour notification, and the tolerance-range update, both matter for any captive GCC pricing its services to its own parent.
Read the briefing →Live in nine weeks, not nine months.
Incorporation, FDI reporting, and hiring, sequenced in parallel: not run one after another.
See the case study →
Talk to us about your GCC.
Bring your parent company's requirements; leave with a written, fixed-fee setup plan, on the same calendar as everything else we file for you.