Global Capability Centres cross 202 million sq. ft as office stock occupiers across six cities

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Global Capability Centres (GCCs) have crossed 202 million sq ft as office stock occupiers across the top six cities in the country. This constitutes nearly 34 percent of all occupied Grade A stock across the top six cities, a JLL-CRE Matrix report has said.

The six cities include Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, NCR, Chennai and Pune.

GCCs, also known as global in-house centres or captives, are offshore units of large multinationals performing technology operations. The number of  GCCs would cross 2,300 over the next three years from more than 1,790 as of 2022 with the corresponding occupancy footprint expected to grow to over 270 million sq ft.

They now occupy more than 202 million sq. ft of office space across the top six cities as compared to 65.7 million sq. ft in 2012 - a growth of more than 3X,  the report said.

Technology firms account for a 46 percent share of all operational GCC footprint across the top six cities, followed by global corporations from the banking, financial services and insurance segment.

The highest footprint of GCCs by tech firms mirrors the growth of the IT industry in India. Healthcare-Biotech is an emerging segment where GCCs are ramping up their footprint at a quick pace. Industrial and manufacturing have a sizeable share of 13 percent as global organisations are shifting their supply chains to India and opening their engineering R&D centres.

“Bengaluru has emerged as the GCC leader, as it is home to 42 percent of the GCC-occupied stock in the country, equating to 85 million sq. ft with over 460 occupiers in the city. Hyderabad is the second biggest GCC market with a share of 16 percent in occupied stock, though has a lesser number of GCCs with Mumbai, Delhi NCR, and Pune ahead of it. Cities like Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Mysore and Lucknow are a few of the emerging cities that have also been on the radar of GCCs for opening their offices,” said Rahul Arora, head, office leasing advisory and retail (India), JLL.

“The holistic ecosystem provided by the bigger metros with a strong physical and office infrastructure, talent pool and support amenities has contributed to the expansion of GCCs across these cities, although some Tier II and III cities have also witnessed their footprint. GCCs consider India a key destination and contributor to their next stage of evolution and are consequently investing in setting up incubators, accelerators, and multiple partner programmes to drive collaboration with Indian start-ups and educational centres of excellence,” he added

“As the developed world stares at a possible economic slowdown, India is now a core strategy for a large chunk of Fortune 500 companies not only from a cost perspective but also from establishment in India as one of their centres of excellence. If we view India’s positives from a global perspective, we are right where we wanted to be and are perfectly tuned for an upward trajectory. And this is exactly where the GCC segment is going to gain a significant market share soon,” said Abhishek Kiran Gupta, CEO & Co-founder, CRE Matrix & IndexTap.

US-headquartered firms account for the majority of the operational GCC footprint with 58.3 percent share in occupied stock in the top six cities of India followed by European firms (35 percent).

The share of APAC-based GCCs is currently quite less but ramping up backed by regional unicorns. The Americas' GCCs are primarily present in Bengaluru and Hyderabad whereas EMEA and APAC with a healthy mix of BFSI and Engineering GCCs are spread across Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Pune.