Indian IT firms bet on GCC boom with build-operate-transfer model (original) (raw)

Experts emphasise that IT services firms are responding to a clear shift in enterprise sourcing preferences | Photo Credit: metamorworks

As India’s GCC boom gathers pace, IT services companies are embracing the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model to create new revenue streams, helping multinational clients set up and scale captive centres even as such centres compete with traditional outsourcing businesses.

TCS’s new GVIC business unit reflects the growing focus of Indian IT firms on helping enterprises establish and transform GCCs. Meanwhile, in 2025, Citizens Financial Group Inc., a US-Based premier financial institution, announced a joint initiative with Cognizant to launch a GCC in Hyderabad. As citizens’ strategic partner, Cognizant will build and operate the GCC.

Under the BOT approach, service providers build and run a GCC for a multinational client, helping it scale operations before eventually transferring the centre to the client’s ownership.

Strategic Significance

Akshay Mathur, Partner, Everest Group, emphasised that IT services firms are responding to a clear shift in enterprise sourcing preferences.

“Many organizations view GCCs as a strategic operating model, not just as an alternative to outsourcing. Enterprises want greater ownership and control over critical technology, product engineering, AI, data, and other areas. Service providers are therefore positioning themselves as GCC partners to help design, build, scale, and transform these centers,” he said.

While GCC-related revenue is still a small share of most providers’ books today, the growth rate and strategic significance of these mandates make them hard to ignore.

“It is important to focus on this sector as traditional IT Services are going through a metamorphosis. The Autonomous Business will change the way IT Services are delivered,” said DD Mishra, VP Analyst, Gartner.

Mathur explained that GCC practices are becoming a defensive and offensive play at the same time. Defensively, they help providers participate in spending that might otherwise move away from traditional outsourcing models. Offensively, they create new revenue streams across advisory, setup, operate, talent acquisition, transformation, and managed services.

Limited Upside

However, he noted that while BOT deals can generate meaningful revenue, their margins are generally lower than those of large, long-term outsourcing contracts.

Mishra highlighted that traditional IT outsourcing thrives on multi-year, predictable recurring revenue. “Under the BOT model, the internalization phase represents a hard end to that income. During the “Operate” phase, the tech talent is legally employed by the IT services firm. During the “Transfer” phase, these engineers, data architects, and project managers officially cross over to the client’s payroll.”

The model becomes more attractive when providers retain post-transfer work, such as managed services, consulting, platform support, or transformation projects. Without such follow-on engagements, a BOT arrangement may offer adequate returns but limited long-term economic upside.

Vendor Disadvantage

Moreover, the growth of GCCs can cannibalize traditional outsourcing revenue streams, depending on the provider. Today, enterprises route high-margin, transformative digital projects directly to their own GCCs. Traditional vendors are left out of the loop, losing the most lucrative portion of enterprise technology spend.

While enterprises are not completely cutting off traditional IT vendors, they are changing what they buy from them. GCCs keep the strategic, high-value work — AI modeling, cloud architecture, data science — in-house. Traditional IT service providers are losing their top-performing developers and domain experts to GCCs, which typically offer 20 per cent to 40 per cent higher compensation.

However, India has over 2,100 GCCs today, with strong momentum in new centre setup and expansion of existing centres. Everest Group estimates that the service provider opportunity linked to GCCs is already upwards of $25 billion in 2026 across offshore and nearshore geographies, growing at about 25 per cent year on year. For large IT services firms that have invested in this space, GCC-related revenue is already meaningful, and in some cases, among their fastest-growing lines of business.

Mathur noted, “We have barely scratched the surface of GCC penetration, particularly in the mid-market segment, which gives this opportunity a long runway.”

Published on June 9, 2026