Incentives

This guide maps the state-level incentive documents that matter to a company planning a Global Capability Centre in India, and separates what is a notified policy from what is a speech, a draft or a press note. It does not calculate what your centre would receive. Incentive packages are negotiated case by case, every scheme is time-boxed, and most figures below carry caps and conditions that the headline hides.

How to read the labels

• Policy: a published government document with a date, a period and eligibility rules.
• Announced: a budget speech, cabinet decision or ministerial statement without a notified document.
• Neither: nothing we could find on a government site.

Treat every figure as a ceiling, not a promise. Most schemes disburse in instalments over several years, exclude companies that have claimed under another policy of the same state, and lapse on a fixed date.

Karnataka: policy

The Karnataka GCC Policy 2024-2029 is a notified document. It targets 500 new GCCs, 3.5 lakh new jobs and US$50 billion of economic output by 2029. It defines a GCC as a fully owned, integrated hub of a multinational headquartered outside India, and expects a private limited company, registered partnership or LLP. Incentives are reimbursements, not grants: 50 per cent of quality certification fees up to INR 6 lakh, 50 per cent of domestic patent filing fees up to INR 2 lakh, and 20 per cent of skilling expenses up to INR 36,000 per graduate. The larger items sit in the Beyond Bengaluru package for centres with at least 100 employees outside Bengaluru Urban district: recruitment assistance capped at INR 7 crore, rental assistance capped at INR 2 crore, EPF reimbursement up to INR 3,000 per employee per month for two years, and 100 per cent electricity duty reimbursement for five years. Mega projects, meaning more than 5,000 new jobs in Bengaluru or more than 1,000 beyond it, get a customised package decided case by case.

Telangana: IT policy in force, GCC policy still a draft

Telangana's IT department publishes the ICT Policy Framework 2016 and a 2016 document on incentives for IT and ITES expansion; no GCC-specific policy appears on the downloads page. The 2016 document defines a mega investment as more than Rs 200 crore or more than 1,000 jobs and promises a tailor-made package for it, plus patent reimbursement of up to Rs 5 lakh per Indian patent and 20 per cent of quality certification cost up to Rs 4 lakh. A news report of 17 September 2026 says a new GCC policy is at draft stage and will favour frontier-technology sectors over broad-based incentives. Label the Telangana GCC policy announced.

Maharashtra: two policies

The Maharashtra IT-ITeS Policy 2023 is the operating document for IT units; it took effect on 27 June 2023 for five years, as reported. It gives 100 per cent stamp duty exemption for new units in IT parks outside Zone I and 75 or 50 per cent inside Zone I, and electricity duty exemption for 10 years in Zone I and 15 years elsewhere. The Maharashtra Global Capability Centre Policy 2025 is a separate document. The state's press note sets objectives of about 400 new GCCs, 4 lakh high-skilled jobs and Rs 50,600 crore of investment, and lists capital subsidy or rental assistance, payroll subsidy, interest subsidy, stamp duty exemption and electricity duty exemption among the fiscal items. A news report of 20 August 2026 says operational guidelines were issued that tier projects from Small (Rs 50 to 100 crore, 250 to 500 jobs) to Ultra Mega (above Rs 750 crore), with capital subsidy up to 20 per cent and a payroll subsidy of Rs 50,000 per employee per year for 100 employees over three years. We could not fetch the guidelines themselves.

Tamil Nadu: a scheme, not a policy

We found no standalone Tamil Nadu GCC policy document. What exists is G.O.(Ms) No. 34 of 12 March 2024, a special scheme that pays a payroll subsidy of 30 per cent in year one, 20 per cent in year two and 10 per cent in year three on jobs whose payroll cost is Rs 1 lakh a month or more. The gate is narrow: the parent must be in the most recent Forbes Global 2000 or Fortune 1000 list (exceptions by committee), the centre must create 200 direct jobs within the scheme period, the employees must be domiciled in Tamil Nadu, and only 50 GCCs will receive the subsidy. The scheme runs from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2027.

Gujarat: policy, plus GIFT City

The Gujarat GCC Policy 2025-30 runs to 31 March 2030 and aims at 250 new units and 50,000 jobs. An eligible unit needs at least 50 employees on payroll; a mega project needs gross fixed capital investment of INR 250 crore or 500 direct jobs. Support is 20 per cent of building capex and 30 per cent of IT hardware capex up to INR 50 crore (INR 200 crore for mega), plus 15 per cent of eligible opex up to INR 20 crore a year (INR 40 crore for mega) for five years. A unit claiming under any other Gujarat policy cannot claim here. The older IT/ITeS Policy 2022-27 still lists capex support up to INR 50 crore and an employment incentive up to INR 60,000 per employee. GIFT City sits in Gujarat, but the IFSC route is a central regime; see the separate guide.

Uttar Pradesh: policy, figures not verified

India Briefing reported on 25 June 2025 that the Uttar Pradesh GCC Policy 2024 was notified in May 2025 with tiered thresholds by district and a capital subsidy, stamp duty exemption and land subsidy. Reports disagree on the thresholds and we could not fetch the state portal, so no figure is given here. Read the policy on the Invest UP portal before using it in a business case.

Andhra Pradesh: policy, guidelines separate

G.O.Ms.No. 9 of 12 December 2024%202024-2029_%20G%20O%20MS%20No.9,%20dt%2012%2012%202024.pdf) approves the AP IT and GCC Policy 4.0 for five years from notification. The order states that incentives will be extended as per operational guidelines to be notified separately; treat any figure in the annexure as indicative until those guidelines are in hand.

Central instruments

• SEZ units (policy): sezindia.gov.in states 100 per cent income tax exemption on export income for five years, 50 per cent for the next five and 50 per cent of reinvested profits for five more under Section 10AA, but the sunset took effect on 1 April 2020. New units get duty-free procurement, IGST zero-rating and single-window clearance, not the tax holiday.
• STPI registration (policy): the STP scheme is a 100 per cent export-oriented scheme with single-point approvals, duty-free imports and a positive net foreign exchange obligation. The FAQ we could fetch is dated 2018 and still cites a Section 10A tax exemption; confirm the current income tax position before counting on it.
• National framework for GCCs (announced): the Union Budget 2025-26 said a national framework is to be formulated as guidance to states for promoting GCCs in emerging tier 2 cities. A report of January 2026 says it remains in draft with consultations ongoing.

Check before you rely on this

• Whether Telangana has notified its GCC policy, and whether Maharashtra's operational guidelines are on the state portal.
• Whether the Tamil Nadu scheme has been extended beyond 31 March 2027 or its 50-GCC cap is exhausted.
• Whether the national GCC framework has moved from draft to a notified document.