India has emerged as the world’s largest hub for retail and FMCG global capability centres, with 180 GCCs employing about 272,300 professionals, according to a TeamLease Digital report released on July 8.
The country’s retail GCC market is now 34 percent larger than those of Poland, the Philippines, Mexico, Germany and Egypt combined, the report said.
India also leads its peers in artificial intelligence adoption, with AI penetration at 5-7 percent of the retail GCC workforce. This puts it ahead of every other major market tracked in the report, including Germany.
“The scale of retail GCC growth has accelerated in India. It is not just American retailers; European companies are also coming to India in large numbers. We are also seeing strong demand from Japanese and South Korean retailers,” Neeti Sharma, chief executive officer of TeamLease Digital, told Moneycontrol.
Sharma said India’s appeal goes beyond its large pool of skilled talent. Business-friendly policies, tax incentives, relatively low infrastructure costs and government support have also encouraged multinational companies to establish operations in the country.Of the 180 retail and FMCG GCCs in India, around 130 are nano GCCs, typically employing 200-250 people each. These centres are spread across Bengaluru, Mumbai, the National Capital Region, Pune and Hyderabad, as well as tier-II and tier-III cities such as Mangaluru.
Alongside the entry of new GCCs, an estimated 60-70 percent of existing nano centres are expected to expand their workforce and operations over the next few years.
Major retail and FMCG GCCs operating in India include Lowe’s, Tesco, H&M, Walmart Global Tech, Target, L’Oréal and AB InBev.
India’s retail GCC talent pool
As retail GCCs expand, demand for professionals with artificial intelligence and machine learning skills is rising sharply.
Despite rapid AI adoption, India currently has only about 320 professionals with more than eight years of AI experience across its 180 retail GCCs. That works out to fewer than two senior AI specialists per centre on average.
Bengaluru accounts for 54 percent of the retail GCC AI talent pool and continues to anchor advanced global mandates. Hyderabad is emerging as the strongest secondary hub for AI talent, while Pune is developing as a complementary engineering centre.
Hiring demand across retail GCCs nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025, creating more than 52,000 job opportunities last year, the report said.
Technology, customer success and supply chain functions currently account for around 60 percent of the retail GCC workforce. Together, they are expected to generate more than 80 percent of hiring demand by 2028.
Demand for technology and engineering roles alone is projected to rise from about 25,100 positions in 2025 to 41,000 by 2028.
Professionals with core AI and technology skills are also commanding salaries that are 50-60 percent higher than those offered for comparable conventional roles, Sharma said.
According to the report, more than 90 percent of the 28,500 professionals hired by retail GCCs over the past year came from outside the industry, with IT services firms contributing 17.5 percent of hires, followed by product companies at 14 percent and consulting firms at 10.5 percent.
This scarcity has also pushed up compensation significantly. AI and machine learning professionals with three to six years of experience command a median salary of Rs. 46 lakh—around twice the market median—while those with six to ten years of experience earn a median of Rs. 68 lakh. Senior professionals with over 15 years of experience and expertise in both AI and retail domain skills can earn more than Rs. 1.2 crore annually, the report said.
