How to set up a GCC
in India
Six steps, one statutory register and two numbers that decide the whole plan: 4 to 6 months to a live entity, and break-even at 25 people. Everything below is what we run for clients, not a checklist copied off a consultancy deck.
- 4 to 6 months
- incorporation to working bank accounts
- 25 people
- where entity economics beat managed employment
- $299
- per person per month during the build
The six steps of GCC setup in India
In order. Steps one and two run in parallel with hiring, which is the only reason a team can be productive before the entity exists.
- 01
Decide the route before the entity
Under 25 people, managed employment is cheaper and faster. Past 25, entity economics win and the gap widens with every hire. Most teams run both: hire now, incorporate in parallel.
- 02
Incorporate the private limited company
A Private Limited company through the MCA, registered in your name from day one. Four to six months end to end for incorporation, registrations and working bank accounts.
- 03
Appoint an India-resident director
Section 149(3) of the Companies Act 2013 requires at least one director resident in India for 182 days or more in the financial year. The rest of the board can be foreign nationals.
- 04
File every statutory registration
Not one filing, a register of them: PAN, TAN, GST, PF, ESIC, Professional Tax, Shops and Establishments, and Labour Welfare Fund. Each is a separate authority with its own deadline.
- PAN
- TAN
- GST
- PF
- ESIC
- Professional Tax
- Shops & Establishments
- LWF
- 05
Open banking and set the cross-border structure
An INR operating account and a foreign inward remittance account, plus intercompany service agreements, a transfer pricing framework and a fund flow structure that stays FEMA compliant.
- 06
Stand up payroll and the workplace policies
Monthly payroll with statutory deductions, a statutory auditor, books with a CA firm, a POSH policy and a constituted Internal Complaints Committee before the first hire joins.
What GCC setup costs, and when it pays back
The finance question underneath every India plan is not the setup fee, it is the headcount at which owning an entity gets cheaper than renting one.
-
During the build
Managed employment is $299 per person per month while we build. Entity setup and workspace are scoped once your requirements are mapped, not quoted blind.
-
After transfer
Your ongoing cost is salaries plus statutory compliance. Every registration already sits with your entity rather than ours, so there is nothing to migrate at handover.
-
Where the break-even sits
25 people. Below it, managed employment keeps you fast without the statutory overhead. Above it, running your own entity is cheaper per head and gets cheaper as you grow.
-
What salaries actually cost
Pay varies more by city than most India plans assume. Our per-city medians come from disclosed records with a 25-record publish gate, so a thin cell shows as withheld, not guessed.
Where to set up: the six GCC metros
Pool depth, salary medians and who is already hiring there, per city. Pick on the roles you actually need rather than the city with the loudest reputation.
-
Bangalore
- 437
- GCCs profiled
- 7.1M+
- tracked professionals
- ₹15.7L
- software engineer median
Deepest pools: C++, CSS, MySQL.
GCC companies in Bangalore -
Hyderabad
- 299
- GCCs profiled
- 5.3M+
- tracked professionals
- ₹10.4L
- software engineer median
Deepest pools: CSS, Software Engineer, MySQL.
GCC companies in Hyderabad -
Chennai
- 244
- GCCs profiled
- 4.1M+
- tracked professionals
- ₹7.6L
- software engineer median
Deepest pools: CSS, MySQL, C++.
GCC companies in Chennai -
Mumbai
- 283
- GCCs profiled
- 5.8M+
- tracked professionals
- ₹9.7L
- software engineer median
Deepest pools: Adobe Photoshop, CSS, AutoCAD.
GCC companies in Mumbai -
Pune
- 169
- GCCs profiled
- 2.4M+
- tracked professionals
- ₹9.5L
- software engineer median
Deepest pools: CSS, MySQL, C++.
GCC companies in Pune -
Delhi
- 277
- GCCs profiled
- 5M+
- tracked professionals
- ₹14.1L
- software engineer median
Deepest pools: Adobe Photoshop, C++, CSS.
GCC companies in Delhi
More on GCCs in India
Common questions
Typically 4 to 6 months for full incorporation, compliance registration and working bank accounts. Your team does not have to wait for it. Under managed employment people start from day one while the entity is set up in parallel, then transfer once it is live.
Yes. Section 149(3) of the Companies Act 2013 requires every Indian company to have at least one director who is resident in India for 182 days or more in the financial year. The rest of the board can be foreign nationals. We provide a resident director during the build and help you appoint your own when you are ready.
Managed employment is $299 per person per month while we build. Entity setup and workspace are scoped once your requirements are mapped rather than quoted blind. After transfer your ongoing cost is salaries plus statutory compliance, because every registration already sits in your entity's name.
25 people. Below that, managed employment is cheaper and faster than carrying an entity and its statutory overhead. Past 25, entity economics beat managed employment and the gap widens with every hire.
PAN, TAN, GST, Provident Fund, ESIC, Professional Tax, Shops and Establishments and Labour Welfare Fund, plus a statutory auditor, an INR operating account and a foreign inward remittance account. Each one is a separate authority with its own filing calendar, which is where most India plans underestimate the work.
Depth in the roles you actually hire matters more than the headline city median. Every metro page carries the companies already there, per-role pool sizes and disclosed salary percentiles, so the choice can be made on measured numbers rather than reputation.