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.
By what you're optimising for
Deepest tech and engineering talent pool
Bengaluru wins. It carries the largest concentration of GCCs already operating in India, which means the widest talent pool, the most mature vendor and recruiting ecosystem, and the least explaining you'll have to do to candidates about what a GCC even is.
Strong tech talent, tighter operating cost
Hyderabad is the closest substitute to Bengaluru for engineering and product roles, with a fast-growing GCC base of its own and generally more competitive commercial real estate.
Manufacturing- or hardware-adjacent functions
Pune sits inside India's auto and engineering manufacturing belt, useful when the GCC's mandate touches product engineering, supply chain, or plant-adjacent functions rather than pure software.
BFSI and financial back-office operations
Chennai and the NCR (Gurugram) both carry deep, established BFSI and financial-services back-office experience, useful if the GCC's function is finance operations rather than product engineering.
Regulated financial services or fund structures
GIFT City (Gandhinagar) is the one genuinely different answer on this list: an IFSC-regulated jurisdiction built specifically for financial-services and fund entities, with its own regulator and its own tax framework, worth a dedicated conversation if this is your function.
By which scheme fits: SEZ, STPI, or neither
Separately from the city, every GCC chooses a regulatory scheme for the unit itself:
SEZ (Special Economic Zone)
Best when the function is export-focused and can commit to operating from a dedicated SEZ campus. Under Section 10AA of the Income Tax Act, SEZ units get a 100% income-tax exemption on export profits for the first 5 years, 50% for the next 5, and a further conditional 50% for 5 years after that, alongside duty exemptions on imports for the unit. The trade-off is less flexibility: SEZ units carry export obligations and are more constrained on remote or hybrid working models.
STPI (Software Technology Parks of India)
Best when you want customs relief and streamlined, single-window administrative support without an SEZ campus commitment. STPI today functions primarily as a facilitation and registration scheme, duty-free import of IT hardware and simplified compliance, not an income-tax holiday; the STPI income-tax exemption that existed under Sections 10A/10B lapsed for new units after FY 2010-11. Understand it as procedural relief, not a tax shelter.
Non-STPI / Domestic Tariff Area (DTA)
Best when flexibility matters more than either incentive: no minimum export ratio, no campus restriction, the easiest structure to resize, relocate, or wind down. Most GCCs running a hybrid or remote-friendly model, or whose mandate spans both export and India-facing work, land here.
Note on the SEZ Act: SEZs are still governed today by the SEZ Act, 2005. A replacement framework (the proposed Development of Enterprise and Service Hubs Bill) has been discussed since 2022 but has not been enacted; we plan against current law, not proposed law.
SEZ incentive detail: sezindia.gov.in.
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.