How Eastern India can lead the next GCC wave

Eastern India’s role in a rebalanced GCC footprint

An assessment of existing global capability centers in the region by EY India reveals a clear set of structural advantages that position Eastern India as a credible next-wave growth corridor for enterprises looking to rebalance their India presence and rebalancing GCC footprint in India.

• Our analysis of over 20 GCCs highlights a diverse origin mix, including centers headquartered in the United States, Western and Northern Europe, as well as representation from the UK, Japan and the UAE. This diversity underscores the maturity of the GCC ecosystem in Eastern India and Kolkata’s ability to support globally distributed operating models across time zones and regulatory environments.

• While technology-enabled services remain central, the sectoral mix of GCCs in Eastern India is increasingly diversified. Telecommunications and telecom software organizations form a strong cluster, alongside specialty chemicals, healthcare and life sciences, financial services, electronics, e-commerce and automotive firms. This reflects steady GCC growth and widening sectoral confidence in the region.

• Current GCCs in Kolkata span a wide range of scale — from lean teams to centers employing several hundred professionals. While many operate with relatively modest headcount today, their functional scope signals future scalability. This aligns with emerging location patterns, where organizations prioritize leadership depth and capability before large-scale GCC expansion.

What Kolkata and Eastern India must now enable

To sustain momentum and attract the next wave of investments, Eastern India should strengthen Kolkata’s role as a hub for advanced GCC capabilities. This includes clearer differentiation around analytics and data engineering, AI and automation and industry-specific Centers of Excellence (COE) across banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), telecom and healthcare.
 

The region would also benefit from a more predictable GCC landing framework to support GCC expansion strategies in Kolkata — including single-window facilitation, standardized setup timelines, clearer talent availability maps and plug-and-play parks. Stronger talent signaling is equally critical. Despite premier institutions such as IIT Kharagpur, IIM Calcutta, the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and Jadavpur University, the pathway from academia to GCC careers remains under-articulated. Targeted industry–academia programs in data, AI adoption, product engineering and risk can strengthen Kolkata’s talent ecosystem for GCCs and improve access to tech talent in India.
 

Building greater ecosystem visibility will be key to unlocking GCC investment opportunities in Eastern India. Attracting anchor GCCs and amplifying success stories can accelerate confidence and scale. With coordinated policy support, premium office ecosystems, strong employer branding and sustained engagement with global leadership, Kolkata can move decisively from an emerging location to a preferred destination for building capability-led GCCs in India — cementing its place within the GCC ecosystem of India’s next growth phase.
 

Sayan Banerjee, Senior Manager, EY India; Alyna Roshan, Business Consulting Analyst, EY India contributed to this article.