How long does it take to scale a GCC in India from launch to 100+ employees?

The first phase, typically 3 to 4 months, covers entity incorporation, registered office setup, statutory registrations (PAN, TAN, GST, PF/ESI), and hiring the country leadership and first-line function heads who will build the team under them. This phase moves at the speed of company registration and senior hiring, not bulk recruitment, so it can't be significantly compressed.

The second phase, months 4 through 9 to 12, is where headcount growth accelerates as function leads hire their teams, typically adding 15 to 30 employees per month once recruitment and onboarding processes are running smoothly. Reaching 100+ employees inside a year is realistic for most GCCs, though centres in competitive talent markets or hiring for niche skills sometimes extend to 15 to 18 months. Working with a local advisory partner for entity setup and initial compliance can save 6 to 8 weeks compared to building that expertise in-house from scratch.