Sunday, 22 June 2025: According to PwC India’s report “Catalysing value creation in Indian global capability centres” India GCCs have progressively developed into a key driver of the country’s economic growth. As per the report, during FY20-24, India GCCs generated value at a weighted average CAGR of 10-11% for their respective headquarters (HQs). Such compounding of value-growth has happened despite GCCs managing a relatively small part of their HQs global processes. Our research indicates that during FY25-29, India GCCs are expected to grow value for their HQs at a weighted CAGR of 11-12%.
The survey findings are based on in-depth interviews with close to 250 senior executives – covering GCCs and their HQs of both product and service-based companies. The aim was to examine the value contribution of GCCs and capture perspectives on the challenges faced by GCCs and their HQs in aligning with the larger strategic and operational goals.
Commenting on the future opportunity for GCCs in India, Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson, PwC in India, said, "In the context of India’s growth story, it is important for GCCs and their HQs to co-create a shared definition of value, invest in joint decisions, and build a culture of collaboration. GCCs must see complete alignment with their HQs - not as a one‑time fix, but as a sustained leadership imperative.”
To maximise their potential in enhancing value creation, GCCs and HQs need to ensure alignment in areas such as resource allocation, performance measurement and governance, through more open communication on defining value and processes to achieve it, robust cross-functional collaboration, and shared recognition of success. Doing so has the potential to increase value generation growth of GCCs by an estimated weighted average CAGR of 3-4% over and above the 11-12% they are expected to achieve during FY25-29. This indicates that value generation by GCCs can go up to 14-15% for FY25-29 with complete GCC-HQ alignment.
Rajesh Ojha, Partner and GIC/GCC Market Segment Leader, PwC India said, “Strengthening GCC–HQ alignment requires intentional actions that go beyond delivery. Encouraging cross-functional collaboration, celebrating shared outcomes, and embedding a value-driven mindset across teams are critical steps. These actions not only foster greater trust and visibility with HQs but also enable GCCs to step up as extension of HQ and strategic partners delivering enterprise-wide impact.”
GCCs as strategic business partner
The insights from the report help establish how GCCs in India, growing in numbers and stature, are fast becoming central to their headquarters’ growth strategy and evolving as drivers of front-end value for their headquarters. As per the report, between FY20-24, Indian GCCs evolved into cost-conscious innovators and multifunctional centres of excellence (CoEs) for their HQs. Further, GCCs are seeing a strategic elevation in the context of their HQs, as they become new business creators, new technology value incubators, strategic business partners, and ecosystem integrators.
Roles in which GCCs have matured over the years
Roles in which GCCs are gradually maturing
Our research outlines three priority areas identified by the GCC and HQ leaders for this journey to begin:
GCCs to help HQs manage the rising cost of digital transformation solutions in collaboration with startups
More collaboration to meet the increased demand for artificial intelligence (AI) solutions
A greater focus on addressing the growing cybersecurity threats with deep engineering and software skills
A common set of services that are top priority for the HQ and GCC leadership of product as well as services-based companies in their future phase of growth during FY25-29 include digital transformation and innovation, and research and development. It is therefore not surprising to see Indian GCC leaders continuing to grow in their roles as Global Head of R&D and Global Head of Software Products and Design and becoming more strategic partners to their HQs as they put value in motion. Our research also revealed that respondents across both GCCs and HQs overwhelmingly agree that gender-balanced leadership at GCCs will drive future value-growth.
More ground to cover
GCCs have placed India in the orbit of industrial nations that have provided distinctive value architecture frameworks to the world. The Silicon Valley in the US and Kaizen in Japan are value architectures that added sustained domestic value to their economies through continuous improvements in quality, productivity and other areas. Along similar lines, it is imperative for GCCs to strategise to develop value creation models and assets integral to the success of their HQs which in turn could enhance India’s soft power.
The report also reveals that India will continue to be a premier destination for setting up GCCs, with global companies committed to maintaining their presence in the country. Less than 25% of business leaders are considering relocating their India GCC operations. Instead, they envision these centres leveraging AI and digital technologies to become global solutioning hubs, making GCCs an integral part of the global value chains.
Raghav Narsalay, Partner and Leader – Research and Insights Hub, PwC India says, “Indian GCCs are uniquely positioned to become engines of dynamic value creation. To accelerate this growth and make GCCs more competitive and investible, the national and state governments should make substantial investments in developing infrastructure that can be used for GCC set up, such as building GCC parks and developing Tier 2 locations to become mature GCC hubs.”
About the survey
A total of 240 senior leaders, primarily CXOs – 120 from GCCs and 120 from their respective HQ participated in this PwC India survey conducted over two months. While 10% of the responses came from companies that established GCCs before the 2000s, 27% of the companies in the sample established GCCs between 2000 and 2010, 45% between 2010 and 2020, and 18% post-2020. About 46% of the HQ-companies surveyed have an annual sales turnover of more than USD 30 billion, about 34% have an annual sales turnover between USD 1–10 billion, while the remaining make between USD 10–30 billion in annual sales.
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