Which Indian state offers the most generous GCC incentives?

It depends on the shape of your centre. Haryana and Gujarat offer large capital and operating-cost support, UP and Rajasthan lean on payroll and opex, Maharashtra lets units choose capital or rent support, and Karnataka reserves most cost-side money for locations outside Bengaluru. Model your own seat ramp, capex and salary mix against each policy before deciding.

Does Telangana have a GCC policy for Hyderabad?

Not as of October 2026. Press reports in September 2026 said a GCC policy was being drafted. The state's published incentive document is the ICT Policy Framework 2016, which may have lapsed, so Hyderabad's pull rests on talent and momentum rather than GCC-specific subsidies.

Can a GCC lose incentives it qualifies for?

Yes. Most policies require registration within set windows, headcount or investment milestones, and periodic claims with evidence. Missing a filing, failing a domicile or salary condition, or arriving after a first-come quota fills can forfeit support the centre was otherwise eligible for.

Can GCC incentives be combined with central government schemes?

Sometimes. Gujarat's policy, for example, allows central incentives to be stacked but bars claiming the same costs under another Gujarat policy. Each state sets its own anti-duplication rules, so check them before assuming support can be combined.

India's State GCC Incentive Policies Compared

Indian states now compete openly for Global Capability Centres. At least eight have GCC-specific policies or schemes that pay towards capital spending, payroll, recruitment, training, rent and operating costs. The money is real, but it is fragmented: every state uses different thresholds, quotas, domicile rules and filing windows, and the best location on incentives is not always the best location overall.

Key Takeaways

Eight states have dedicated GCC support: Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Tamil Nadu. Kerala’s policy is still a draft.
Telangana has no GCC policy yet, despite Hyderabad being the fastest-growing GCC city.
The structures differ more than the headline rates. Some states pay mostly on capex, others on payroll or opex, and several limit support to the first movers.
Eligibility conditions decide the real value. Domicile rules, salary floors, zone tiers and quotas often matter more than the percentage.
Claims are a process, not a cheque. Registration, milestone evidence and periodic filings determine what is actually disbursed.

The policies side by side

State	Instrument	Headline support	Watch for
Uttar Pradesh	UP GCC Policy 2024, effective 7 May 2025	25% capital subsidy (cap ₹10 crore at Level-1), 20% of lease, bandwidth, cloud and power opex, payroll support from 35%	Payroll is richer outside Noida and Ghaziabad; eligible staff must meet salary and category conditions
Karnataka	GCC Policy 2024-29, launched Nov 2024	50% of first-year rent, EPF reimbursement, recruitment support up to 50%, 25% of internet costs	Most cost-side support applies only Beyond Bengaluru
Maharashtra	GCC Policy 2025, GR of 3 Nov 2025	20% capital subsidy (cap ₹10 to ₹100 crore by size) or rental assistance; payroll support for 3 years	Capital or rent, not both; payroll only on salary above ₹1 lakh a month
Madhya Pradesh	GCC Policy 2025	40% capex subsidy (cap ₹15 crore at Level I), payroll 50%/30%/20% over 3 years	Targets Indore, Bhopal and Gwalior; payroll limited to high-salary roles
Rajasthan	GCC Policy 2025, notified 2 Dec 2025, valid to 31 Mar 2029	30% capital subsidy up to ₹10 crore under RIPS-2024; 30% payroll and 50% rent support for Category 2	Category 2 is limited to the first 10 GCCs at each size threshold
Gujarat	GCC Policy 2025-30, resolution of 11 Feb 2025	20% on buildings and 30% on IT capex (cap ₹50 crore), 15% opex support up to ₹20 crore a year for 5 years	Minimum 50 employees; cannot claim the same costs under another Gujarat policy
Haryana	GCC Policy 2026, gazetted 27 May 2026	Capex 50% to 75% by zone, opex 50% to 65% for 5 to 9 years, employment subsidy for Haryana-local staff	Minimum 100 employees; operations must start on or after 1 Jan 2026
Tamil Nadu	Special GCC scheme, G.O. 34 of 12 Mar 2024	Payroll subsidy of 30%, 20% and 10% in years 1 to 3	Max 50 GCCs, runs to 31 Mar 2027, Forbes Global 2000 or Fortune 1000 parent, 200 direct jobs, TN-domiciled staff

State notes

Uttar Pradesh has one of the most complete packages. Beyond capital and opex support, it pays a payroll subsidy that starts at 35% of salary (up to ₹5 lakh per employee a year) in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, and 50% (up to ₹7 lakh) in other districts such as Lucknow, tapering over three or four years. Qualifying staff must be UP-domiciled, women or from listed categories, with salaries above ₹1 lakh. A one-time ₹20,000 subsidy applies for each UP-domiciled fresher hired. The practical effect: a Noida centre gets solid capex and opex support, while a Lucknow satellite can get significantly richer payroll support.

Karnataka wrote India’s first dedicated GCC policy, but its structure surprises many Bengaluru-bound teams. Rent, EPF, recruitment and internet support apply Beyond Bengaluru, in clusters such as Mysuru, Mangaluru and Hubballi-Dharwad-Belagavi. Bengaluru GCCs mainly receive skilling reimbursement (20% of spend, up to ₹36,000 per graduate), internship support and innovation-lab grants. Bengaluru’s draw is its talent depth, not subsidy.

Maharashtra applies across Zone I (Mumbai and Pune metropolitan regions) and Zone II (the rest of the state), with richer support in Zone II. Rental assistance is 10% in Zone I and 20% in Zone II for up to five years, and a unit picks either that or the capital subsidy. The payroll subsidy pays 40% (Zone I) or 50% (Zone II) of the monthly salary component above ₹1 lakh, for up to 100 employees and ₹5 crore a year.

Madhya Pradesh aims squarely at Tier-II growth. Its 40% capex subsidy is paid over five years, and the payroll subsidy covers high-salary roles in Level I and Advanced categories, alongside land, interest and stamp-duty support carried over from the state’s IT policy.

Rajasthan splits support in two. Every GCC investing at least ₹5 crore gets the RIPS-2024 package: 30% capital subsidy up to ₹10 crore, effectively full stamp-duty relief and seven years of electricity-duty exemption. The first 10 GCCs at each of two size thresholds (over 100 employees or ₹15 crore, and over 500 employees or ₹50 crore) also receive 30% payroll support for three years, up to ₹1.25 lakh per employee a year, plus rent, bandwidth and upskilling support. The Category 2 figures come from law-firm summaries because the official annexure was not retrievable. Being early matters here: the quota is first-come.

Gujarat applies statewide, so Ahmedabad, GIFT City, Vadodara and Surat receive the same terms. Its 15% opex support pools rent, bandwidth, cloud and power, and a one-time hiring incentive pays 50% of one month’s CTC for each new local employee.

Haryana tiers support by Gurugram outside transit-oriented zones, Gurugram transit zones and all other districts. Capex reimbursement reaches 75% outside Gurugram, and opex support runs up to nine years there, which makes the policy unusually attractive for satellite sites.

Tamil Nadu has a payroll scheme rather than a full policy. Its conditions are strict: a new GCC, a Forbes Global 2000 or Fortune 1000 parent, 200 direct jobs and high-paying roles for Tamil Nadu-domiciled staff, with a cap of 50 GCCs before the scheme closes on 31 March 2027.

Telangana and Kerala. Telangana has no notified GCC policy as of October 2026; a draft was reported in September 2026. Kerala published a draft GCC Policy 2025-2030 offering up to six months rent-free in government IT parks and SGST reimbursement of up to ₹10 crore over five years, but it has not been notified.

How claims work, and how they get forfeited

Incentives are rarely paid automatically. The typical sequence is:

Registration or approval with the nodal agency, often before commercial operations start or within a set window afterwards.
Milestone evidence: investment certificates, headcount registers with PF numbers, rent agreements, salary records and domicile proof where required.
Periodic claims, quarterly or annually, usually paid in instalments over five to ten years.
Compliance through the claim period: staying above employment thresholds and keeping the unit operating.

Support is most often lost when the location is chosen before incentives are modelled, a registration window passes during the launch rush, staff do not meet domicile or salary conditions, a first-come quota fills, or claims lapse because nobody in the young India team owns the calendar.

Model your own numbers

Headline percentages do not tell a CFO what a specific centre can recover. The free GCC Incentive & Cost Estimator applies each policy’s published rates and caps to your seat ramp, salaries, capex and rent, and shows an indicative range against your five-year spend. Our incentive capture service turns that range into a claim plan and manages the filings with specialist partners, on a retainer plus success-fee basis.