Fourfold growth in Just A Year! Pune Emerges as India’s New Global Facility Center Hub
Fourfold growth in Just A Year! Pune Emerges as India’s New Global Facility Center Hub
Surge in GCCs driven by tech talent and affordable office space; Pune sees fourfold growth in just a year
Once known as the cultural capital of Maharashtra and later recognized as an IT city, Pune is now rapidly transforming into a Global Capability Center (GCC) hub in India. This new identity is being shaped by the influx of multinational corporations setting up operations in the city, driven by abundant technical talent and comparatively lower commercial rents.
In a notable milestone, MasterCard opened its largest global technology center in Pune last year. This reflects a growing trend of global tech giants choosing Pune to host their strategic facilities. According to a recent report by Anarock Group, Pune saw 4.5 lakh square feet of office space leased for GCCs in just the January–March 2024 quarter, a fourfold increase compared to the same period last year.
Key reasons behind Pune’s rise include:
- A strong talent pool of engineering graduates from numerous local colleges.
- Lower real estate costs compared to Bangalore, prompting companies to shift operations.
- A maturing ecosystem that now hosts centers focusing not only on customer service or IT support but also on core business functions such as R&D, product management, data analytics, and digital transformation.
India’s seven major metro cities Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai currently house around 1,700 global facility centers, employing 1.7 to 1.8 million people and generating a combined revenue of $52 billion. These numbers are expected to rise to 1,900 centers and $60–70 billion in turnover by the end of this year, with total employment reaching 1.9 million.
The GCCs, once limited to cost-saving BPO or call center functions, are now integral to the strategic value chains of global companies. Their evolution represents India’s growing stature not just as a cost-effective destination, but as a center for innovation and core business operations.
With Pune at the forefront of this transformation, the city is set to become a preferred destination for future-ready global businesses paving the way for a new era of economic and employment growth.
