Capgemini India outpaces GCC export growth at 18% CAGR
NEW DELHI, INDIA — Capgemini’s India has recorded a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 18% in the past five years, outpacing the broader global capability centers (GCC) export revenue trend, which industry estimates place at around 14% CAGR, projected to reach US$100 billion by 2030, according to a report from BW BusinessWorld.
“In the last five years, the compounded annual growth rate has been upwards of 18 percent for the overall India-based business. Of course, it’s a mix of domestic and GCCs, but predominantly GCCs,” Ananth Chandramouli, Managing Director for India Business at Capgemini, told BW Businessworld.
“Capgemini is growing at a much faster pace than the export revenue of GCCs in the industry,” Chandramouli added.
GCCs in India shift from support work to core functions
India is witnessing what Chandramouli calls a “second wave” of GCC expansion, with high-value innovation work now being relocated to the country.
“What used to be contextual work earlier is now about what is core to the enterprise getting shifted to India,” he said.
European firms, which entered India later than their United States counterparts, are now adopting a core-first mindset.
Capgemini works with over 200 GCCs in India, supporting them across setup, scale, optimization, and transformation.
Chandramouli notes that even when GCCs internalize some responsibilities, it creates new opportunities for service providers, particularly in complex technology, engineering, GenAI, and managed services.
“You sometimes have some [cannibalization] of your revenues, with some shift towards GCC, but there is so much more that you can do with them,” he said.
Tier-2 city expansions are also gaining traction, driven not only by cost considerations but by talent retention.
“Cost is maybe 10-15 percent, but that’s not the most important reason. The longevity of people in tier-2 cities is much higher. There is a fundamental change in the mindset of the talent there. They don’t want to move out,” Chandramouli explained.
India emerges as a global GCC and innovation hub
Capgemini India is increasingly functioning as a two-way innovation hub, importing global expertise and exporting India-built solutions to international markets.
“We’re doing two things broadly: bringing global capabilities to India for the first time, and developing new capabilities here that we can then export globally,” Chandramouli said, citing sectors such as automotive, consumer products, renewables, pharma, and life sciences.
This growth story reflects a broader trend in the outsourcing industry, where GCCs are no longer merely cost centers but strategic innovation partners.
India is becoming an important place for high-value, technology-based services by using advanced engagement strategies, expanding its second-tier services, and changing its main workloads, providing both large-scale operations and specialized skills to global companies.
