India's Global Capability Centre landscape is seeing a shift in its sector mix, with banking, financial services and insurance companies emerging as the largest occupiers of GCC-linked office space in the first half of 2026, according to data from Knight Frank India.
BFSI-led GCC transactions reached 7.32 million sq ft during January to June 2026, marking a 70% increase from 4.31 million sq ft recorded during the corresponding period last year. The sector accounted for 36% of the overall 20.6 million sq ft of GCC transactions across India's eight leading office markets.
The markets covered include Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.
The increase comes as GCC demand in India expands beyond its traditional dependence on technology companies. Global banks, financial services companies and insurers have been building and expanding capability centres in the country to support functions spanning technology, operations and other specialised services.
"India's commercial real estate market is witnessing a clear structural shift, with GCC-led demand becoming increasingly diversified beyond traditional technology occupiers," said Viral Desai, International Partner and Senior Executive Director at Knight Frank India.
Demand from other service sectors also increased during the period. Office transactions from non-tech service companies rose 16% year-on-year to 5.10 million sq ft in H1 2026, compared with 4.41 million sq ft during the same period in 2025.
The trend contrasted with office absorption by IT and IT-enabled services companies. IT/ITeS GCC transactions declined 28% to 4.13 million sq ft during the first half of 2026, from 5.71 million sq ft a year earlier.
Manufacturing-linked GCC activity also moderated, with office absorption declining to 4.05 million sq ft from 4.67 million sq ft in the corresponding period last year.
Desai attributed the moderation in IT/ITeS absorption to occupiers recalibrating their global strategies, while pointing to BFSI as an increasingly important contributor to office demand.
The changing sector composition comes as India continues to attract multinational companies looking to establish or expand capability centres. GCCs, which traditionally supported back-office and technology operations, have increasingly taken on functions across engineering, analytics, finance, digital operations and other specialised areas.
The H1 2026 numbers indicate that the next phase of India's GCC expansion is becoming more diversified, with financial services and other non-tech sectors accounting for a larger share of office transactions even as technology-sector absorption moderates.
Disclaimer: This article may include information derived from interviews, press releases, public statements, research, company communications and other publicly available or third-party sources. Such material may be summarised, paraphrased or contextualised for journalistic and editorial purposes. All rights in third-party content remain with their respective owners.