How to Set Up a GCC in India: Managed Office Route

To set up a GCC in India, an enterprise makes four calls in order: ownership structure, operating route, city and workspace. The first three can run for months. The fourth decides how fast the team can start. This guide covers each step, the costs, and the managed office route.

India’s GCC Market at a Glance

As of FY2026, India had 2,117 GCCs across 3,728 units, employing about 2.36 million people and generating an estimated $98.4 billion in revenue.

Most centres are not giants. Just 88 mega GCCs, with 5,000 or more employees each, make up about 5% of the count but employ nearly half the workforce. The last two rows above matter for workspace planning: GCCs are both major office occupiers and the largest source of flex seat demand.

Step 1: Choose the Ownership Structure

Two routes dominate. In a Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS), the parent holds 100% of the equity under India’s foreign investment rules. It keeps full control and owns the IP, but carries the regulatory load alone. In a joint venture (JV), a local partner brings market knowledge and regulatory familiarity, and the parties share decisions.

A WOS in an automatic-route sector can also issue equity against pre-incorporation expenses, up to 5% of authorised capital or USD 500,000, whichever is less

Other options exist. An LLP is used occasionally, though foreign investment into LLPs is more restricted. GIFT City is an option for GCCs in banking and financial services. An existing Indian subsidiary can also house a GCC, but state schemes treat it as an expansion, with incentives tied to the new jobs and investment created.

Step 2: Choose the Operating Route

Ownership decides who owns the entity. The operating route decides who builds and runs it.

Self-reliant: the parent handles talent, infrastructure, vendors, and compliance from day one. It has no partner to unwind later, but the timeline is longer and the learning curve steeper.

Build operate transfer India: a partner sets up and runs the GCC first, then hands full control to the parent after an agreed period. BOT has gained traction with mid-sized companies, and that segment is large: 480-plus mid-market centres employing over 210,000 professionals make up 27% of India’s GCC landscape. The Nasscom-Zinnov report also lists variants that add training or service phases, and managed GCC models.

A parent that picks BOT without an existing JV must find, vet and onboard a partner from scratch. BOT also has tax angles to plan early. A partner that negotiates contracts for the parent can create permanent establishment risk, and the final transfer can attract transfer pricing scrutiny. Odisha’s GCC Policy 2025 expressly recognises BOT as a valid route. GCC enablers put BOT engagements anywhere from 18 months to five years.

Whichever route you choose, the team needs somewhere to work from the first hire. That is the workspace decision.

Step 3: Pick the City and State Policy

Talent leads the decision. Nasscom-Zinnov finds that about two-thirds of new GCCs choose Bengaluru and Hyderabad, with talent as the top attraction.

State policy is the second filter. Legal advisers say the choice should weigh incentive size against talent, infrastructure and timelines across states such as Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Haryana has a GCC policy for 2026, and GIFT City suits financial services.

Hyderabad shows the pattern. FICCI and Anarock count about 515 GCCs there, nearly 20% of India’s base, and EFC Limited has an Enterprise Office on Financial District Main Road.

Step 4: Secure GCC Office Space in India

GCC office space India decisions are where a managed office comes in. Cushman & Wakefield data shows flex operators took nearly 20% of about 43 MSF of H1 2026 leasing. Its India flex report adds that managed office requirements averaged 350 to 500 seats between 2023 and 2025, and that GCCs and multinationals increasingly use flex to enter and expand across markets. India’s flex inventory stood at 88.7 MSF, or 10.5% of office stock.

The demand is local too. In Hyderabad, Anarock sees another 2 to 3 million sq ft of potential flex and managed demand. A first phase rarely needs the full requirement. A team of 50 to 100 seats can start on a managed floor and take more space as hiring proves out.

Managed Office for GCC: What You Get

A managed office for GCC use gives a new team a ready floor with fit-out, IT and facilities handled by the operator. That lets hiring begin while entity registration runs in parallel.

Compare total cost of occupancy, not rent per seat alone: rent, deposit, fit-out, IT, facilities and exit costs. Advisers estimate that a traditional lease needs a deposit of six to ten months’ rent. EFC Limited’s view: use a managed office while headcount is unconfirmed, then decide on a lease or a larger floor once the team is stable.

A GCC that wants a dedicated, customised floor has a third option: a turnkey design and build project. EFC Limited covers it end to end, from workplace strategy through to execution.

Why Enterprise Offices Suit the First Phase

The market’s average managed office requirement is 350 to 500 seats. EFC Limited’s Enterprise Office seat bands run from 50 to 100 up to 500 plus, so a first phase and a scale-up phase sit inside one offer.

EFC’s Enterprise Offices are built for organisations with 50 or more employees. EFC describes them as scalable and customisable, with tailored support and networking opportunities. The enterprise hubs include:

• Pune: Cerebrum IT Park, Kalyani Nagar.
• Navi Mumbai: a property with an atrium, food court and shopping complex.
• Hyderabad: an IT/ITES business tower on Financial District Main Road.
• Chennai: Ambattur, in a commercial area of the city.

EFC also offers a Managed Office in Kolkata.

This suits both operating routes. A GCC that builds on its own can take an Enterprise Office as its first floor. A GCC using a BOT partner can place the partner-run team in the same space and keep it after transfer.

GCC Setup Cost India: Where the Money Goes

GCC setup cost India splits into three buckets: setup (entity, legal, registrations, office deposit, systems), recurring (rent, salaries, compliance, IT) and hidden (ramp delay, director liability, audits, transfer pricing).

Published adviser estimates vary because they count different things:

• Entity set-up items only: Rs 5.75 to 22.5 lakh.
• Registration, office build-out and first hires: $200,000 to $500,000.
• One-time setup for a full centre: $500,000 to $3 million, plus $25,000 to $80,000 per engineer a year.
• Capex for a self-built centre of 200 or more: $500,000 to $1.5 million.

A budget is only comparable once you know what sits inside it. Scale matters as well. One adviser model puts overhead per employee, excluding salary, at Rs 8.8 lakh for a 10-person team and Rs 4 lakh at 200.

The highest hidden cost is time. If entity and office setup take six months, a team planned to be productive by month six has lost six months of output. Workspace is the one line you can move from upfront spend to a monthly cost. All of these figures are adviser estimates, not quotes.

How Long Does It Take?

Advisers put GCC setup at 6 to 18 months. For BOT, one guide describes months 0 to 6 for setup and hiring, months 7 to 18 for operation and knowledge transfer, and months 18 to 36 for full transfer. A ready-to-move office removes one of the slowest steps.

Your First 90 Days

Work in parallel, not in sequence:

1. Weeks 1 to 4: fix the ownership structure, operating route and city shortlist.
2. Weeks 2 to 6: start entity incorporation and tax registrations, and shortlist workspace.
3. Weeks 4 to 8: sign the workspace and confirm seat bands for the first phase.
4. Weeks 6 to 12: appoint leaders, begin hiring and set up IT and security.
5. By week 12: review the plan against the first hires and adjust the next phase.

EFC Limited’s Perspective: Build the Workplace While You Build the Entity

A GCC should not wait for an entity, a lease and a fit-out in sequence. EFC Limited operates across 10+ cities, and its view is simple: start with a workspace sized to the team you can hire in the next year, then grow it as headcount is confirmed.

EFC does it all. It develops and runs technology-enabled, ready-to-use managed offices, with facility management, infrastructure services and operational support. It handles design and build turnkey projects for commercial interiors, managing the full lifecycle from workplace strategy and concept design to engineering, procurement, project management and execution, with a focus on quality, timelines and cost control. And it customises the office to each client’s needs.

For a GCC, that means one company can carry the workplace through every stage. Take a managed Enterprise Office for the first phase. When headcount settles and the team wants a dedicated, customised floor, EFC can design and build it.

Common Mistakes

• Budgeting for setup but not for the ramp period, when the team costs money before it delivers.
• Choosing a city only on incentives, without checking talent depth.
• Ignoring permanent establishment and transfer pricing in a BOT contract.
• Signing a long lease before headcount is confirmed.
• Comparing cost estimates without checking what each includes.
• Treating workspace as an afterthought, when it decides how soon hiring can start.

Conclusion

The route to set up GCC in India comes down to four choices: ownership, operating model, city and workspace. Each can be staged, except time. Good GCC office space India choices keep the workspace step short: a managed Enterprise Office lets hiring start early and keeps commitment flexible. 

For GCCs and enterprises planning a first phase of 50 or more seats, EFC Limited’s Enterprise Offices are built for that stage, and its design and build arm can take the second phase. Whichever route you pick, write down what the first 50 seats must deliver in year one. Every later decision follows from it.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I set up a GCC in India?
   Choose an ownership structure (WOS or JV), pick an operating route (self-reliant or BOT), select a city and state policy, secure workspace, then hire in phases. Advisers quote 6 to 18 months to become operational.
2. What is the build-operate-transfer India model for GCCs?
   A partner builds and runs the GCC, covering talent, infrastructure and compliance, then transfers full control to the parent company after an agreed period. Advisers put that period between 18 months and five years.
3. How much does it cost to set up a GCC in India?
   Published estimates range from under Rs 25 lakh for entity set-up items alone to $500,000 to $3 million for a full centre. Compare budgets only after checking exactly what each estimate includes.
4. Is a managed office suitable for a new GCC?
   Yes, for the first phase. A managed office is ready to move in and scales by seat band, which suits a team still confirming headcount. Compare total cost of occupancy, not rent per seat alone.
5. Does EFC Limited offer Enterprise Offices for GCCs?
   Yes. EFC Limited’s Enterprise Offices suit organisations with 50 or more employees, with seat bands from 50 to 100 up to 500 plus, at enterprise hubs in Pune, Navi Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai, plus a Managed Office in Kolkata.
6. How much flex office demand comes from GCCs?
   GCCs took 44% of flex seats leased in H1 2026, up from 37% in 2025, according to Cushman & Wakefield, making them the largest demand driver for flex workspace in India.
7. What are the main risks of a BOT GCC?
   The main risks are permanent establishment exposure if the partner negotiates contracts for the parent, and transfer pricing scrutiny when operations are handed over. Raise both with tax counsel before signing the BOT agreement.
8. Can EFC Limited design and build a GCC office?
   Yes. EFC Limited offers turnkey design and build for commercial interiors, covering workplace strategy, concept design, engineering, procurement, project management and execution, and customises the office to each client’s needs for location, term, fit-out and services.

References

1. Nasscom and Zinnov: GCC Landscape Report 2026, The GCC Value Orbit
2. IBTimes India: India’s GCC Revolution, Delivery Engines to Enterprise Nerve Centres
3. Business of GCC: The India GCC Compensation Pulse 2026
4. IANS: India Office Leasing Surges 5 pc in H1 2026 as GCCs Drive Demand
5. The Tribune (ANI): India Flex Workspace Segment Records Strongest H1, Leasing Rises 68% YoY: Cushman & Wakefield
6. Cushman & Wakefield: India’s Flex Space Segment Witnesses Strongest H1 on Record
7. IANS: India’s Flexible Office Market Likely to Hit 160 MSF by 2030
8. EFC India: Enterprise Solutions
9. EFC Limited: Managed Office Solutions
10. EFC Limited: Design & Build Turnkey Solutions