Setting up a GCC in Hyderabad in 2026: talent, rents, incentives and timelines

Hyderabad is the busiest city in India for new Global Capability Centres (GCCs). It hosts about 515 GCCs employing more than 3 lakh people, on data to March 2026 (The People's Board on FICCI–Anarock, Sep 2026), and it attracted 42% of the new US-headquartered GCCs opened in India in 2025, ahead of Bengaluru at 35% (Storyboard18 citing ANSR, Dec 2025). Prime office space costs ₹95–115 per sq ft per month (same FICCI–Anarock report), and the city has the highest office vacancy of India's major markets at 24.2% (CRE Matrix–CREDAI, Jul 2026), which puts tenants in a strong position.

What Hyderabad does not have, as of November 2026, is a notified state GCC policy. Telangana's ICT Policy 2021–26 expired on 31 March 2026, a GCC policy has been drafted but not notified, and large GCCs negotiate incentives case by case through MoUs with the state (TaxAJ, Oct 2026). The Invest Telangana Global Summit on 7–9 December 2026 is the next likely point for an announcement. Build your business case without Telangana incentives and treat anything that arrives as upside.

Hyderabad's GCC market in numbers

For scale, India as a whole had 2,117 GCCs with about 2.36 million staff and US$98.4 billion in revenue in FY26 (Business Today, May 2026). Bengaluru still has the larger installed base. Hyderabad's lead is in new entrants.

Why companies are choosing Hyderabad in 2026

New-GCC momentum

UnearthIQ data, as reported by NewsBytes, counts 111 greenfield GCCs set up in India between January and August 2026, against 100 in all of 2025. Of those 111, Hyderabad took 40, Bengaluru 30 and Pune 18, and 65 were US-headquartered (NewsBytes citing UnearthIQ, Sep 2026). We could not find the primary dataset, so treat the city split as reported rather than confirmed. Its direction matches ANSR's 2025 count.

The state wants more. On 6 November 2026, Telangana minister Sridhar Babu set a target of 100 new GCCs in Hyderabad within a year (Telangana Today, Nov 2026). Part of the pull comes from US policy: coverage of ANSR's data cites the rise in the US H-1B fee to US$100,000 in 2025 as one driver of new US GCCs in India (Storyboard18, Dec 2025).

Notable 2026 GCCs in Hyderabad (as reported)

Several large Hyderabad centres were announced or expanded in 2026. These details come from news roundups and trackers rather than company press releases, and some of the centres were first announced in 2024 or 2025 and are ramping up now (Sights in Plus, 2026; Ceipal, 2026):

• BASF announced a centre on 26 February 2026, reported at about 350 people over six to seven quarters, with a clinical and AI focus.
• Nestlé is setting up a large GCC built with Genpact, focused on AI and agentic AI (TechIntelPro, Jul 2026).
• Eli Lilly's centre covers AI, automation and cloud, with up to 1,500 staff reported for 2026–27.
• Sanofi has a reported €400 million expansion and more than 2,600 staff.
• Costco is building a technology centre with an initial target of more than 1,000 people.

The Nestlé centre is a useful reference point for buyers weighing operating models: a large multinational used a services provider to stand up its India centre.

Talent and hiring

foundit projects 510,452 GCC hires across India in 2026, the first year above 5 lakh. Hyderabad accounts for 15% of that hiring, up 15% year on year, behind Bengaluru at 30% and ahead of Pune at 12% (Business Today citing foundit, Jul 2026). AI and data roles make up 18% of GCC hiring nationally and are the fastest-growing category, up 38%.

That growth shows up in pay. Zinnov reports average FY26 increments of 9.8% across GCCs, but 21.1% for AI/ML roles, 20.0% for cybersecurity and 16.1% for cloud (Zinnov, 2026). For early budgeting, Taggd puts entry-level GCC pay at INR 6–12 LPA in tier-1 cities (Taggd, 2026). That is an aggregator figure, so use it as a starting range and test it against live offers.

With Nestlé, Eli Lilly and others ramping AI teams in the same city, expect senior AI and data engineers to be the hardest hires in Hyderabad. Plan for a longer search on those roles, and build a junior pipeline early so the centre is not competing for every seat at the senior end.

Office space: rents, vacancy and the buyer's advantage

Published Hyderabad rents vary by a wide margin because each source measures something different. Compare like with like.

The prime figure is the one to use if you want a new Grade A building. The market and average figures are a floor for older or less central stock.

Vacancy matters as much as rent. CRE Matrix puts Hyderabad's office vacancy at 24.2% for Q1 CY26, against 16.2% for NCR, 15.5% for Pune and 11.3% for Chennai (CRE Matrix–CREDAI, Jul 2026). For a buyer, high vacancy means more buildings to choose from and more room to negotiate on rent-free periods, fit-out contributions, escalation clauses and options on adjacent floors. Nationally, GCCs leased a record 31 million sq ft in 2025 (JLL, Feb 2026), so landlords in Hyderabad are competing for a large, active pool of tenants.

Two lease points apply specifically to GCCs:

• SEZ units that started after 31 March 2020 get no income-tax holiday. SEZs still offer GST-free procurement and duty-free imports, but they bring approvals, reporting and limits on domestic sales. Many GCCs now lease non-SEZ space, and several Hyderabad IT SEZs have been fully or partly denotified (TaxAJ, Oct 2026).
• If a provider signs the lease under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) arrangement and you plan to take over the premises at transfer, the lease must be assignable, and SEZ bonding requirements can affect timing (Morgan Lewis, Mar 2025).

Incentives: the honest position as of November 2026

Many pages about Hyderabad GCCs imply that a state incentive package exists. As of November 2026, it does not. The sequence so far:

• Telangana's ICT Policy 2021–26 expired on 31 March 2026 (TaxAJ, Oct 2026).
• On 20 May 2026, the Chief Minister directed that a GCC policy be prepared (same source).
• In September 2026, a draft was reported, focused on frontier technology (AI, space and semiconductors) and on tier-2 towns including Warangal, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad (Siasat, Sep 2026).
• On 6 November 2026, the state set its target of 100 new GCCs in a year (Telangana Today, Nov 2026).
• The Invest Telangana Global Summit runs from 7 to 9 December 2026, and the policy may be announced there.

Until a policy is notified, the route is a memorandum of understanding negotiated with the state. That route is realistic for large centres and much less so for a 30-person start. There is no published schedule of rent, payroll or capital subsidies to plan around.

Compare Karnataka, whose GCC Policy 2024–29 offers rent support of up to 50% (capped at INR 2 crore a year, for one year) and EPF reimbursement of INR 3,000 per employee per month for two years (Outlook Business, Dec 2025). We compare the state policies city by city in best cities for a GCC in India.

If the Telangana policy is announced in December, check three things before counting on it: whether it covers centres already operating or only new ones, what headcount or investment thresholds apply, and whether the benefits favor Hyderabad or the tier-2 towns named in the draft.

National measures apply wherever you locate. Budget 2026-27 set a single 15.5% safe-harbour margin for IT services and raised the eligibility threshold from INR 300 crore to INR 2,000 crore (Taxmann, Feb 2026); sources differ on the effective date, which we cover in GCC transfer pricing in 2026. Services to an overseas parent can be zero-rated GST exports if the IGST conditions are met, with an LUT filed each financial year (TaxAJ, Oct 2026).

Compliance specifics for a Telangana entity

The standard vehicle is a wholly owned private limited subsidiary. IT and ITeS allow 100% FDI under the automatic route, with reporting to the RBI after the investment (TaxAJ, Oct 2026). Investors from countries sharing a land border with India have needed government approval since Press Note 3 of 2020; confirm the current position with counsel if that applies to your group.

The four labour codes took effect on 21 November 2025 (DLA Piper, 2025), and the central rules were notified on 8 May 2026 (Business Today, May 2026). With Telangana's own rules still in draft, write employment contracts and pay structures to the codes now and expect to adjust when the state rules are final. If you plan to move staff between entities later, read moving employees at transfer under the new labour codes.

Two further points catch new entrants. A branch office is a poor fit: services from a branch to its head office do not qualify as GST exports (TaxAJ, Oct 2026). And the Income-tax Act 2025 replaced the 1961 Act from 1 April 2026, so the transfer-pricing report is now Form 48 and the safe-harbour option is Form 49 (Bar & Bench, Jun 2026).

Timelines

Most published timelines come from GCC and BOT providers, so read them as indicative:

Hyderabad's high vacancy should shorten the office search compared with tighter markets. Hiring senior AI and data staff is the more likely bottleneck. If you are deciding now, the December summit falls inside a normal setup window: incorporation and hiring can proceed while you wait to see what the state announces.

A Build-Operate-Transfer arrangement starts delivery under a provider's entity and moves the team into your own subsidiary later, which suits companies that want to start before their own entity, payroll and lease are ready.

How Onfocus can help in Hyderabad

Onfocus is headquartered in Hyderabad, with offices in Dublin, Ohio and Preston, UK. We recruit and run engineering teams for clients in fintech, banking and Web3, run a graduate training program, and offer Build-Operate-Transfer for companies that want a Hyderabad centre they will eventually own. If you are weighing Hyderabad for 2027, tell us what you plan to build.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm the details for your situation with Indian counsel and a chartered accountant.

Frequently asked questions

Does Telangana have a GCC policy?

As of November 2026, no. The ICT Policy 2021–26 expired on 31 March 2026, a draft GCC policy has been reported, and large GCCs negotiate incentives case by case through MoUs with the state. The policy may be announced at the Invest Telangana Global Summit on 7–9 December 2026.

How many GCCs are there in Hyderabad?

About 515 GCCs employing more than 3 lakh people, on FICCI–Anarock data to March 2026. Hyderabad also attracted 42% of the new US-headquartered GCCs opened in India in 2025.

What does office space cost in Hyderabad?

FICCI–Anarock puts prime rent at ₹95–115 per sq ft per month, while CRE Matrix–CREDAI puts market rent at ₹76.8. Vacancy is 24.2%, the highest of the major cities, which gives tenants room to negotiate.

What compliance points are specific to a Telangana entity?

RoC Hyderabad covers all of Telangana from February 2026, professional tax is INR 200 a month on salaries above INR 20,000, and IT/ITeS establishments are exempt from certain Shops and Establishments Act provisions until 30 May 2028, with conditions. Telangana's labour-code rules were still in draft as of October 2026.

How long does it take to set up a GCC in Hyderabad?

Ranges published by providers put company incorporation at 7–15 business days via SPICe+, first hires under a BOT build at 8–16 weeks, and a do-it-yourself captive at 6–12 months to become operational. Treat these as indicative.