German company Carl Zeiss AG, which develops optical technology, has declared the establishment of its first Gobal Capability Center(GCC) in India, which will bring 5,000 locals to its payroll in the next three years. Located in Bengaluru, it will host key functions like cloud computing, cybersecurity, and network operations besides helping in the development of software services for its medical technology division, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG.

In the last couple of years, India has seen the GCC shift from a low-cost outsource center to a core competence center playing a comprehensive role for global companies in finance, operations, and research and development.
Apart from technical employees, the workforce expansion will also include hiring for its fifth manufacturing facility in the country, built at a cost of 30 billion rupees ($355.67 million), which is also in Bengaluru and begins operations in 2025.

“Bengaluru is a prime hub due to availability of skills, collaborations and also ecosystem that is very important to grow. The new plant (in Bengaluru) will also be the largest investment Zeiss Group has ever done outside of Germany,” said Dhaval Radia, the chief financial offer of the company’s India unit.

The company also has sales and research and development work in India. The India unit is expected to clock 22 billion rupees in revenue for the current year ending September 2025, up 19% year-on-year, Radia said.

The Government of Karnataka, which houses Bengaluru, unveiled a draft policy with the aim of increasing the number of GCCs to 1,000 in the state by 2029, in order to plan creating 350,000 new jobs.

A report by Nasscom and consulting firm Zinnov said market size of Indian GCCs will increase from $64.6 billion in 2024 to between $99 billion and $105 billion by fiscal year 2030.