A GCC in Bengaluru

Education density

No official Bengaluru-level annual engineering out-turn figure was found. The AISHE state appendix tables for out-turn could not be extracted. Use the AICTE institution and AISHE college counts as the density proxy.

Connectivity

• Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway (NE-7, 262 km): about 71-100 km open from Hoskote, with full completion targeted Dec 2026-2027
• Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway (NH-275) connects to the Mysuru talent pool
• Satellite Town Ring Road (STRR, via Hoskote, Dobbaspet, Ramanagara) partly open, linking peripheral districts
• Bengaluru Suburban Rail (148 km, 4 corridors) under construction, with the deadline extended to March 2030
• Vande Bharat services to Chennai, Hyderabad, Mysuru and Belagavi

No subsea cable landing (landings are in Chennai and Mumbai).

Karnataka incentives

Karnataka Global Capability Centre (GCC) Policy 2024-2029 in force

India's first dedicated GCC policy. The draft was released on 27 September 2024, press reports say the cabinet approved it in mid-November 2024, and the Chief Minister launched the final version at the Bengaluru Tech Summit on 19 November 2024. Its targets are 500 new GCCs, 3.5 lakh jobs and US$50 billion of output by 2029. Most cost-side money (rent, EPF, recruitment, internet, property tax, the higher certification and patent rates) applies only "Beyond Bengaluru", meaning outside Bengaluru Urban District, with six clusters: Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad-Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Tumakuru, Shivamogga. Bengaluru GCCs mainly get internship and skilling reimbursements, an innovation-lab grant, smaller certification and patent support, and probably the R&D infrastructure grant and electricity duty reimbursement. Mega projects get case-by-case packages: more than 5,000 jobs in Bengaluru or more than 1,000 Beyond Bengaluru. The policy defines a GCC as wholly owned by a multinational headquartered outside India. The GO number is not public online, and the full text was read from a third-party-hosted copy of the official policy booklet. Karnataka's separate IT Policy 2025-30 (cabinet-approved 13 November 2025) also lists GCCs as eligible but is not modelled here.

• training

  Internship reimbursement: 50% of the stipend for up to 3 months, capped at INR 5,000 per intern per month. That is at most INR 15,000 per intern, one-time, which is the per_employee_inr value. Statewide limits are 20,000 interns a year and 1 lakh over the policy. Per GCC, the limit is 15% of workforce or 100 interns a year.

• training

  Skilling of local talent: 20% of skilling spend on new recruits within a year of hiring is reimbursed, up to INR 36,000 per graduate (shown in the fields) or INR 18,000 per diploma holder. Limited to the lower of 100 employees or 15% of workforce, claimable once a year. Courses can be technical skilling for non-technical staff or soft skills.

• other

  Innovation lab or Centre of Excellence grant in Bengaluru Urban: up to 40% of capital expenditure, capped at INR 5 crore. Once per entity, and only two projects a year statewide.

• other

  Innovation lab or Centre of Excellence grant Beyond Bengaluru: up to 75% of capital expenditure, capped at INR 3 crore. Once per entity, and two projects a year.

• recruitment

  Recruitment assistance Beyond Bengaluru, slab 1: up to 10% of total recruitment cost, capped at INR 35 lakh, for 100-250 new unique hires. Only hires in the first year after commencement count. One application per entity per policy period.

• recruitment

  Recruitment assistance Beyond Bengaluru, slab 2: up to 20% of recruitment cost, capped at INR 1.2 crore, for more than 250 and up to 400 new hires. The policy table has no slab for 401-500 hires; it jumps from 400 to "more than 500".

• recruitment

  Recruitment assistance Beyond Bengaluru, slab 3. Up to 30% of recruitment cost, capped at INR 3 crore, for more than 500 and up to 700 new hires.

• recruitment

  Recruitment assistance Beyond Bengaluru, slab 4: up to 50% of recruitment cost, capped at INR 7 crore, for more than 700 and up to 1,000 new hires. 1,000 or more hires get a customised package case by case.

• rent

  Rental assistance Beyond Bengaluru, Category 1: up to 50% of first-year rent, capped at INR 50 lakh. Limited to 10 GCCs a year statewide.

• rent

  Rental assistance Beyond Bengaluru, Category 2: up to 50% of first-year rent, capped at INR 2 crore. Limited to 6 GCCs a year statewide.

• payroll

  EPF reimbursement Beyond Bengaluru: the employer's EPF contribution for new hires, for the first two years from commencement. Capped at INR 3,000 per employee per month, which is INR 36,000 a year and the per_employee_inr value. Employment must be continuous for two years. Limited to 30% of workforce or 250 employees per GCC, and 25 GCCs a year statewide.

• bandwidth

  Telecom support Beyond Bengaluru: 25% of internet expenses reimbursed, up to INR 12 lakh a year, for the first three years of operation. The cap field is the annual cap.

• electricity

  Electricity duty: 100% reimbursement for five years, plus the option to move from commercial to industrial power tariffs. The text conflicts on whether Bengaluru qualifies. The body says the incentive is for GCCs "establishing or expanding operations in Beyond Bengaluru areas". But the eligibility column says "any new GCC setting up in the State (this incentive is applicable for GCCs setting up in Bengaluru Urban District also)", and Pillar 3 excludes 4.3.6A from its Beyond-Bengaluru- only rule. Khaitan & Co's review of the final policy reads it as Beyond Bengaluru. Confirm with KDEM / DEITBT before modelling it for Bengaluru.

• other

  Property tax: 30% of property tax reimbursed for three years from the start of operations.

• other

  R&D infrastructure grant: the lower of 40% of the approved budget or INR 50 crore, for testing and prototyping facilities in emerging technologies (30% of the allocation is reserved for AI). It can be given as land, building or money, and only three GCCs in different regions get it over the whole policy period. The clause text says "in the Beyond Bengaluru areas", but Pillar 3 excludes 4.3.4 from its Beyond-Bengaluru-only rule, and Khaitan & Co reads the final policy as extending it to Bengaluru Urban District.

• other

  Quality certification in Bengaluru Urban. 50% of certification fees reimbursed, up to INR 6 lakh, for up to three certifications (one a year).

• other

  Quality certification Beyond Bengaluru. 80% of certification fees reimbursed, up to INR 8 lakh, for up to three certifications (one a year).

• other

  Patent fees: 50% of statutory filing fees reimbursed, approved patents only. The cap is INR 2 lakh in Bengaluru Urban (shown in the fields) and INR 3 lakh Beyond Bengaluru (clause 4.4.6). Once a year, up to five times in the policy period.