Bengaluru, NCR no more only players for GCCs; Ahmedabad, Pune and other cities emerge new focus point

As Global capability centres are explading their broadbase for talent in India, Ahmedabad, Pune, Vadodara, Mangaluru, Coimbatore, and Chandigarh are some of the emerging cities that are turning out to be winners, leaving India’s IT hub, Bengaluru, and NCR behind, reported ToI.

Consulting firm Zinnov’s data shows the GCC talent pool in these cities has grown 26% to 71,000 in 2023-24, from 56,000 in 2020-21. Karthik Padmanabhan, managing partner at Zinnov, says the number of GCC units in emerging cities also rose by about 27% between these years. “Historically, Bengaluru and NCR have been the dominant players in the GCC space. However, the focus is now shifting towards these emerging hubs, propelled by a combination of factors such as the availability of skilled professionals, lower operating costs, and work-life balance,” he told ToI.

IT firms build local ecosystem:
Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Cognizant, and Accenture and other top IT firms have built and strengthened the local talent and ecosystems in some of the emerging cities. GCCs are now benefiting from that, but also contributing to further strengthening it. “We believe GCCs will test these locations by setting up satellite centres before developing them into major hubs. The presence of GCCs and leading IT firms will attract more talent and companies, creating a virtuous cycle of growth and innovation. This steady expansion promises a more balanced and dynamic distribution of tech opportunities across India,” Karthik said.

Pune and Coimbatore top the list among emerging locations, housing GCCs of several Fortune 500 companies. Coimbatore has an estimated talent pool of over 15,000.

Karthik says many governments encourage the decongestion of metropolitan areas by offering tax breaks, subsidies, and other incentives to companies willing to relocate to smaller cities. People costs are 25-30% lower than in metros. Facilities costs are around 10% lower. Travel expenses tend to be high due to less direct connectivity out of these cities. However, these add less than 5% to costs, Karthik says.

Most of these locations have good educational institutions. The local talent pool is less transient than in larger cities, reducing turnover and recruitment costs. “The co-location of good engineering colleges is key, as that acts as the main talent feeder,” Karthik says.

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