Foreign banks push India GCC leasing to a record
BENGALURU, INDIA — Foreign banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) firms leased a record 7.32 million square feet of office space to establish global capability centers (GCCs) in India during the first half of 2026, a 70% increase from the same period a year earlier.
BFSI takes 36% of all India GCC space as IT sector leasing retreats
The 7.32 million square feet absorbed by BFSI firms represented 36% of the 20.6 million square feet total GCC leasing recorded across eight major Indian cities, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi-National Capital Region, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata.
The scale of the shift is sharpened by what happened simultaneously on the other side: leasing by foreign business process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology (IT) services companies to establish GCCs fell 28% to 4.13 million square feet in the same period, down from 5.71 million in the first half of 2025.
Knight Frank India said in the report from The Economic Times, the data showed a structural shift in the composition of GCC demand, with financial services companies absorbing the expansion that technology sector companies are moderating.
“India’s commercial real estate market is witnessing a clear structural shift, with GCC-led demand becoming increasingly diversified beyond traditional technology occupiers,” Knight Frank India said in the report.
Foreign financial firms pick India for scale, talent access, and operating costs
BFSI companies establishing GCCs in India gain access to English-proficient finance and compliance professionals at labor cost structures that are significantly below comparable roles in Western financial centers.
The 70% increase in BFSI GCC leasing and the simultaneous 28% contraction in IT sector leasing reflect a sector rotation in which financial services firms are taking capacity that technology companies are releasing.
The record BFSI leasing volume signals India’s expansion as an outsourcing destination beyond its technology-sector origins into higher-complexity financial operations including compliance, risk management, and analytics.
Knight Frank India said GCC-led demand had become an increasingly dominant driver of commercial real estate absorption in India’s major cities, replacing traditional IT sector expansion as the primary source of grade-A office leasing.
For enterprise buyers and BFSI operators evaluating India as an offshore delivery location, the first-half 2026 data provides evidence that the GCC setup model is now operating at scale in financial services.
The combination of available talent, established legal frameworks for foreign entities, and eight major cities with purpose-built grade-A office stock removes the infrastructure barrier that previously limited BFSI entry into India’s offshore market.
Related news
- U.S. bank to launch India GCC with major Chennai office lease · 25 Mar
- India BFSI hiring jumps 20,000 roles as non-banking BPO cuts 50% · 29 May
Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication.
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