Starting from 1985, when Texas Instruments set up its first engineering and design outpost in Bengaluru, Global Capabilities Centres have now become the second identity of Karnataka, following the state’s emergence as a hub for IT services and consulting firms like Infosys and Wipro, which have put the state on the world tech map.

Mid-size GCCs, which now account for nearly a third of all GCCs in India, have been showing a preference for setting up their centres in Bengaluru compared to other parts of India.

According to the data from the latest report by Karnataka Digital Economy Mission and Zinnov, titled “Karnataka Mid-Market GCC Report 2025: Lean, Local, and Globally Impactful,” of the more than 3000 GCCs in India, as of March 2025, Karnataka housed over 900 of them. While mid-size firms make up nearly 22% of all the global centres present in India, Karnataka alone has over 230 of these more than 480 mid-size GCC companies.  

Mid-size GCCs are those that are Capability Centres of global mid–sized firms, whose annual revenues range from $100 million to $1billion, and where a smaller team does high-value, niche work compared to those with large headcounts.

Speaking on the report, Priyank M. Kharge, Minister of Information Technology & Biotechnology and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Government of Karnataka, said, “Karnataka, in particular, is witnessing a rapid acceleration in the maturity of these Mid-market GCCs, which are growing 1.4 times faster than their larger counterparts. This is fuelled by deep engineering R&D capabilities and a dense concentration of niche digital skills, especially in areas like artificial intelligence and machine learning”.  

The study also noted that 48% of India’s engineering talent in Mid-market GCCs was in Karnataka, nearly 1.7 times India’s average national level, and 50% of India’s global product management talent was based in the state. Additionally, of the more than 21 lakh talent working in mid-size GCCs firms (as of March 2025) in total, nearly 7.4 lakh are employed in Karnataka, which also houses 50% of India’s AI/ML talent.

B.V. Naidu, Chairman, KDEM, said, “GCCs are redefining success with agility, talent density, AI-first mandates, global product ownership, and CXO-level leadership. Through India’s first GCC Policy and the ‘Beyond Bengaluru’ initiative, we are driving balanced, inclusive growth by unlocking the potential of emerging cluster cities”.  

At the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2024, the Karnataka government unveiled India’s first Global Capability Centre-specific policy, which aimed to attract nearly 500 GCCs to establish their centres in the state over the next five years, doubling from the present number to 1000. The policy also aimed to create 3.5 lakh new jobs in the sector, which is expected to generate nearly $50 billion in economic output by 2029.