New Delhi | March 11, 2026: Senior leaders from India’s Global Capability Centre (GCC) ecosystem, consulting firms, and enterprise leadership gathered in Delhi NCR for an exclusive industry RoundTable convened by SSF Global, to deliberate on the next phase of GCC expansion in India and the emerging potential of North India and Tier-2 cities.

The leadership dialogue, titled “The Next GCC Growth Frontier – How North India & Tier-2 Cities Can Power the 2026 Investment Wave,” brought together practitioners and industry experts to examine how evolving policy signals, talent ecosystems, and enterprise strategies could reshape the geography of India’s GCC landscape.

Rethinking GCC Geography

India currently hosts one of the world’s largest GCC ecosystems, with most capability centres concentrated in established hubs such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune.

However, participants noted that the next decade of GCC growth may increasingly involve geographic diversification, driven by factors such as talent saturation in major hubs, rising costs, and enterprise interest in distributed operating models. Cities such as Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Mohali, and Ahmedabad were highlighted as emerging locations that could potentially support future GCC investments if ecosystem development continues.

Industry leaders observed that while several northern states have introduced policies to attract technology investments, awareness among global enterprises remains limited, and stronger promotion of these initiatives will be necessary to influence global location strategies.

Policy and Ecosystem Readiness

Another key theme during the discussion was the role of policy frameworks and ecosystem development in enabling distributed GCC growth. Leaders pointed out that while some states, including Rajasthan, have introduced incentive programs aimed at attracting technology investments and capability centres, the global visibility of these policies remains relatively low.

Industry leaders also emphasized the importance of building supporting ecosystems around GCC operations, including technology partners, consulting firms, startups, and academic institutions.

Such ecosystems have historically played a critical role in the success of southern GCC hubs, and similar collaborative environments will be required in emerging cities to attract large-scale enterprise investments.

Talent and Capability Development

The leadership cohort at the RoundTable also examined the growing availability of skilled talent in several northern cities, supported by universities and professional education institutions.

Participants noted that the evolution of GCCs, from cost-arbitrage service centres to innovation-driven capability hubs, will require new skill sets, including product development capabilities, design thinking, digital engineering, and analytics expertise.

Industry leaders stressed the need for stronger collaboration between enterprises and academic institutions to develop GCC-ready talent pipelines in emerging cities.

Addressing Perception Challenges

A recurring theme in the discussion was the perception gap surrounding Tier-2 cities.

While infrastructure and talent ecosystems have improved significantly in many locations, global headquarters often continue to default to established hubs when evaluating new GCC locations.

Leaders suggested that greater visibility of successful operations in emerging cities, along with stronger engagement between policymakers, industry associations, and advisory firms, could help reshape global perceptions.

A Distributed Future for India’s GCC Ecosystem

The discussion concluded that while southern India will remain a critical anchor for the GCC industry, the next phase of expansion could increasingly involve a multi-city operating model, with Tier-2 cities playing a strategic role in talent diversification, resilience planning, and cost optimization.

Participants agreed that realizing this opportunity will require closer collaboration between governments, enterprises, academic institutions, and industry ecosystems.

Participants in the closed-door roundtable included Konika Chadha, Tarun Aahi, Mohit Malik, Pawan Garg, Pooja Agarwal, Ritesh Chhabra, Rohit Kharbanda, Shalini Gupta, Tanuja Birla, Anirban Roy, Ashok Gairola, Anand Maheshwari and Rakesh Sinha.

Curated by SSF Global to track developments shaping the future of GCCs, enterprise ecosystems, and India’s commercial real estate landscape.

Share on   

Are you looking to set-up a GCC or expand an already existing one?

OR

Considering the launch or expansion of a Global Capability Centre?
Write to us and we will help you by providing the blueprint/ roadmap and SETUP solution – we are a one stop solution including end-to-end requirement for a GCC – Location, People, Process, Technology (AI) and Infrastructure.

About SSF Global
SSF Global is a Global Community for Enterprise Function Leaders and serves as a research & advisory platform focused on Global Business Services (GBS), Global Capability Centres (GCCs), and the evolution of enterprise innovation in India and beyond. We track, publish, and partner in narratives that shape how capability centres transform into hubs of trust, intelligence, and sustainable growth. We also evaluate, assess and benchmark the GCCs for their performance, maturity and other parameters using our proprietary tools built from the knowledge gained from direct interaction with our members (GCCs & GBS).