The world’s fifth-largest financial system is house to 1,700 GCCs, or greater than half the worldwide tally, having outgrown its tech assist origins to turn into a hub of high-value innovation in areas from design of luxurious automotive dashboards to drug discovery.
Trends comparable to rising adoption of synthetic intelligence and rising curbs on visas are pushing U.S. corporations to redraw labour methods, with GCCs in India rising as resilient hubs mixing international expertise with robust home management.
“GCCs are uniquely positioned for this moment. They serve as a ready in-house engine,” mentioned Rohan Lobo, companion and GCC trade chief at Deloitte India, who mentioned he knew of a number of U.S. corporations reassessing their workforce wants.
“Plans are already underway” for such a shift, he added, pointing to better exercise in areas comparable to monetary companies and tech, and notably amongst corporations with publicity to U.S. federal contracts.
Mr. Lobo mentioned he anticipated GCCs to “take on more strategic, innovation-led mandates” in time.
U.S. President Trump raised the price of new H-1B visa purposes this month to $100,000, from an present vary of $2,000 to $5,000, including stress on U.S. corporations that relied on expert international staff to bridge crucial expertise gaps.
On Monday (September 29, 2025), U.S. senators reintroduced a invoice to tighten guidelines on the H-1B and L-1 employee visa programmes, concentrating on what they referred to as loopholes and abuse by main employers.
If Mr. Trump’s visa curbs go unchallenged, trade specialists count on U.S. corporations to shift high-end work tied to AI, product improvement, cybersecurity, and analytics to their India GCCs, selecting to maintain strategic capabilities in-house over outsourcing.
Growing uncertainty fuelled by the current adjustments has given recent impetus to discussions about shifting high-value work to GCCs that many corporations have been already engaged in.
“There is a sense of urgency,” mentioned Lalit Ahuja, founder and CEO of ANSR, which helped FedEx, Bristol-Myers Squibb , Target and Lowe’s arrange their GCCs.
Reassessing India methods
Such a rush might result in “extreme offshoring” in some instances, mentioned Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, a former managing director of Cognizant India, including that the COVID-19 pandemic had proven key tech duties might be carried out from anyplace.
Big Tech, together with Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Google mother or father Alphabet, together with Wall Street financial institution JPMorgan Chase and retailer Walmart , have been among the many prime sponsors of H-1B visas, U.S. authorities information confirmed.
All have main operations in India however didn’t need to remark as the problem is a politically delicate one.
“Either more roles will move to India, or corporations will near-shore them to Mexico or Colombia. Canada could also take advantage,” mentioned the India head of a retail GCC.
Even earlier than Mr. Trump’s hefty price on new H1-B visa purposes and plan for a brand new choice course of to favour the better-paid, India was projected to host the GCCs of greater than 2,200 corporations by 2030, with a market dimension nearing $100 billion.
“This whole ‘gold rush’ will only get accelerated,” Mr. Ahuja mentioned.
Implications for India
Others have been extra skeptical, preferring a “wait and watch” strategy, particularly as U.S. corporations might face a 25% tax for outsourcing work abroad if the proposed HIRE Act is handed, bringing important disruption in India’s exports of companies.
“For now, we are observing and studying, and being ready for outcomes,” mentioned the India head of a U.S. drugmaker’s GCC.
India-U.S. commerce rigidity has spilled into companies from items, with visa curbs and the proposed HIRE Act threatening to cut back India’s lower-cost edge and choke cross-border flows of companies.
While the $283-billion IT trade that contributes almost 8% of India’s GDP might really feel the pressure, surging demand for GCC companies might cushion such a blow, nonetheless.
“Lost revenues from H-1B visa reliant businesses could be somewhat supplanted by higher services exports through GCCs, as U.S.-based firms look to bypass immigration restrictions to outsource talent,” Nomura analysts mentioned in a analysis notice final week.
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