Teching India to the next level: As GCCs set up shop in India, here are the salary trends and jobs on offer

There is a growing trend of establishing global capability centres (GCCs) in tier-II cities such as Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Vadodara, indicating a geographical diversification of tech opportunities across the country, according to a new report.

Skills that are seeing increasing demand are PyTorch, AWS, DevOps, NLP, Kubernetes, Hyperledger Fabric, Blockchain, Tableau, SQL and ServiceNow, according to the ‘Digital Skills and Salary Primer for FY 2025’ report by TeamLease Digital.

As of FY24, India’s tech market size stood at $254 billion, with a 3.8% year-on-year growth and 5.6 million tech workforce, said the report, which is based on a survey that analysed primary data from 15,000 job roles across GCCs, IT services and non-tech sectors. This was complemented by market research spanning 10 critical sectors, including banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), auto and IT products.

From 2020 to 2024, India saw advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), robotic process automation (RPA), edge computing, and quantum computing with essential tools like Python, R, TensorFlow and PyTorch.

In response to the growing tech skills gap, 86% of Indian businesses are actively reskilling their IT workers, said the report.

The Indian tech industry is projected to reach $350 billion by 2025, with significant investments in AI, ML and blockchain. The country has more than 1,600 GCCs, employing more than 1.66 million professionals. According to the report, India is poised to welcome 800 new GCCs in the next 5-6 years, highlighting the country’s growing prominence as a global tech hub.In IT products and services, cloud investment is set to grow by 25-30% in the next five years, according to the report, which said IT products and services is expected to account for 8% of India’s GDP by 2026 and create 14 million jobs by adopting cloud solutions.While the skills of PrismaCloud, Salesforce, ITSM, PowerBI and Oracle are seeing high uptake, the report identifies the decreasing demand for Sketch, UI Path, Splunk and Automation Anywhere.

In GCCs, according to the report, AI/ML engineer job functions have an approximate starting salary of Rs 8.2 lakh per annum that can go up to Rs 43 lakh at the senior levels with more than eight years of experience.

In the IT products and services sector, a big data developer can command a salary of almost Rs 9.7 lakh per annum at the starting levels and Rs 20.7 lakh at the senior levels. Considering tech functions in non-tech sectors, the role of SAP ABAP consultant has a starting salary of almost Rs 7.2 lakh per annum, which can go as high as Rs 31 lakh per annum at eight-plus years of experience. Other in-demand roles include DevOps engineer, IoT engineer, information security analyst and automation engineer.

“As we navigate the future, the Indian technology sector is poised for exponential growth, driven by the pursuit of innovation and strategic investments in cutting-edge technologies,” said Neeti Sharma, CEO, TeamLease Digital. “The Indian tech industry is on track to reach $350 billion in revenue by 2025, with significant investments in AI, machine learning and blockchain totalling over $9 billion in 2023 alone. This surge is fuelled by the rise of remote work and digital-first strategies, which have accelerated cloud computing adoption and are expected to propel the cloud market to grow at a CAGR of 22% over the next five years.”

Sharma said, “Emerging technologies like 5G and IoT are set to further redefine India’s tech landscape, ensuring that the nation remains at the forefront of global technological advancements.”

The metro cities Bengaluru, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai offer the highest salaries for tech job roles, while Jaipur, Indore and Coimbatore are the upcoming hubs currently in an evolution phase, given these are projected to be GCC and data centre hubs.

Entry-level data engineering roles are experiencing a robust 12.07% year-on-year salary increase from FY24 to FY25, according to the report, which said product management professionals at the mid-level are looking at a substantial 10.2% rise in compensation, while senior roles in data science and DevOps are seeing nearly 11% growth in salary over the same period.

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