How to Set Up a GCC in India:
Complete Guide for Foreign Companies

A foreign company can evaluate different structures depending on its activities, regulatory requirements and commercial objectives.

Common options may include:

Wholly Owned Subsidiary

A foreign parent establishes an Indian company that operates as its subsidiary.

This can provide greater control and is commonly considered for long-term GCC operations.

Branch Office

A branch can be appropriate for certain permitted activities, subject to applicable RBI/FEMA requirements.

RBI regulations provide for specified activities for branch offices, including IT and software development services and certain research-related activities.

Liaison Office

A liaison office has a much narrower role and generally functions as a communication and representation channel rather than a full operating GCC.

The appropriate structure depends heavily on the foreign company's industry, functions, revenue model and intended activities. Legal and tax advisors should therefore be involved before incorporation.

Foreign investment into India is governed by the country's FDI framework.

India generally permits up to 100% FDI through the automatic route in many sectors, subject to applicable sectoral rules, laws and conditions.

However, companies should not assume that every GCC activity automatically receives identical treatment.

The setup team should evaluate:

– FDI eligibility

– Sector-specific conditions

– FEMA requirements

– RBI reporting

– Corporate registrations

– Tax registrations

– GST implications

– Employment requirements

– Data protection obligations

– Industry-specific regulations

This is one area where professional legal and tax advice is not optional.

The office decision should follow the talent strategy, not the other way around.

Consider:

– Availability of specialised talent

– Salary levels

– Employee retention

– Airport connectivity

– Office infrastructure

– Data centre and cloud ecosystem

– Existing vendor ecosystem

– Business continuity

– Government incentives

– Future expansion capacity

A multi-city model can also reduce concentration risk and improve business continuity.

A technology-heavy GCC needs a proper architecture from the beginning.

This can include:

– Cloud infrastructure

– Cybersecurity

– Identity and access management

– Collaboration tools

– DevOps

For an AI-led GCC, the technology roadmap should also define how AI will be developed, deployed, monitored and governed.

This is where capabilities such as OCR, document intelligence, computer vision, generative AI, data engineering and workflow automation can become practical components of the GCC rather than isolated technology experiments.

Hiring 50 people is not the same as building a GCC.

Talent strategy should also consider succession planning, employee retention and internal career progression.

The current market is already showing a growing demand for specialised AI and engineering skills. Recent industry reporting has highlighted talent shortages as one of the biggest constraints on India's next phase of GCC expansion.

A GCC handles sensitive company information, intellectual property and potentially customer data. The exact requirements depend on the GCC's activities and parent-company jurisdiction.

A foreign company does not necessarily need to launch a 500-person GCC on day one.

A phased model is often more practical:

Phase 1: Strategy and setup
Phase 2: Core team and pilot functions
Phase 3: Process expansion
Phase 4: Technology and R&D ownership
Phase 5: Global capability leadership

This makes it easier to test the operating model before making major long-term commitments.