Punjab is betting on Mohali and the wider Tricity region as north India’s next major global capability centre (GCC) destination, positioning the region as a lower-cost alternative to established hubs such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Delhi-NCR.
“Punjab is not competing with Bengaluru on the number of GCCs we have today; we are competing on the kind of GCCs we can build tomorrow,” Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, IAS, Administrative Secretary, Industries & Commerce, Government of Punjab, told AIM on the sidelines of the Zinnov Confluence 2026 event.
The wind in the sail comes in the form of a dedicated GCC policy with a sector-specific proposition offering fiscal incentives, employment-linked support, and business facilitation. For eligible GCC projects, the Punjab IT, ITes, Data Centre and GCC Policy 2026 provides investment incentives of up to 125% of fixed capital investment (FCI), subject to a ₹500 crore cap.
The state’s pitch is built around a combination of talent, operating costs, infrastructure, and policy support. According to the government, the Mohali-Chandigarh region already has around 1.1–1.2 lakh IT and technology professionals, while nearly 190 engineering colleges, more than 30 universities, 350+ ITIs, and over 1,000 skill centres feed the wider talent pool. These include IIT Ropar, IISER Mohali, Plaksha, ISB Mohali, Thapar University, and IIM Amritsar.
The government’s broader argument is that companies can access tier-1 capabilities without paying tier-1 costs.
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“We are not just the economical option—we are the option where talent stays,” Punjab’s Industries and Commerce and Investment Promotion Minister Aman Arora tells AIM.
Mohali’s Growing Share
The GCC push comes amid a broader rise in investment activity in the state.
Four months into FY27, Punjab has received more than ₹21,000 crore in fixed capital investment through more than 1,000 projects, according to the state government. This represents around 40% of the investment received during the entirety of FY26.
The projects have reportedly generated around 50,000 jobs during the period, and Mohali accounts for a significant share of this activity. The region has attracted approximately ₹7,000 crore, or around 34% of new investments in Punjab, with about 186 greenfield projects across IT, infrastructure, real estate, and manufacturing generating more than 9,000 direct jobs.
These include Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL), Mohali, which develops flight-grade, radiation-hardened chips, sensors, imagers and custom ASICs for satellites and launch vehicles. Its technologies were used on Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1 missions.
Punjab is now hoping that the investment momentum can translate into a larger GCC footprint.
Beyond Bengaluru and Hyderabad
Punjab's GCC pitch comes as companies increasingly look beyond traditional technology hubs because of rising real-estate costs, congestion, and talent attrition.
The state estimates that overall operating expenditure in Mohali is around 25% lower than metros, while Grade-A office rents are about 50% lower than those in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, and Pune. Salaries for comparable experience are estimated to be around 25% lower, while the cost of living is about 30% lower.
For companies considering a second or third GCC, the government sees this cost differential as a potential advantage.
“We are not competing on prestige; we are competing on cost, commute, and the fact that your team will still be with you in year five,” Arora mentions.
The region already has a base of technology and enterprise companies, including Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Teleperformance, Emerson, Edifecs, FIS, NetSmartz, Quark, and Claas, alongside companies from manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, and other sectors.
He says the region has more than 150 registered IT units and 300 technology startups, with IT exports of around ₹5,000 crore.
Cumulative investment in IT and ESDM in the region already stands at over ₹7,500 crore, supported by Grade A office stock.
The growth trajectory is the more compelling data point for a GCC pitch. IT/GCC employment is projected to roughly double over the next five years, from up to 60,000 in 2025 to up to 1.2 lakh by 2030, driving a projected requirement of 10–12 million sq ft of new commercial office space.
That expansion is underpinned by a cost arbitrage over tier-1 hubs—all layered on top of a unified single-window clearance system that has cut project approval turnaround from 100+ days to 30–45 days, according to the state government.
Talent and Infrastructure
The government's most important argument is that Mohali is no longer dependent solely on entry-level talent. The wider Tricity ecosystem draws professionals from Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir, giving companies a large catchment area.
The government also argues that the region's lower attrition is one of its biggest advantages.
“Over a lakh technology professionals already work in the Tricity, including shared services and leadership roles, and ISB Mohali and IIM Amritsar feed that layer directly. Equally, senior talent from Delhi NCR relocates readily because the quality of life argument is strongest precisely at that level,” Arora states.
Institutions such as IIT Ropar, IISER Mohali, and Plaksha University provide a deeptech and research-oriented talent base, while the wider network of universities and engineering colleges provides a larger pipeline of software and technology professionals.
Punjab is also trying to address a traditional challenge faced by emerging GCC locations: quality office space. The government estimates that around 5 million sq ft of Grade-A and plug-and-play office space is either already available or expected to become available within the year.
The state says the available infrastructure can accommodate a workforce of around one lakh.
Mohali also benefits from its proximity to Chandigarh International Airport, as well as its connection to Delhi-NCR, which is around 250 km away.
The Policy Lever
Punjab's IT/ITeS, Data Centre & GCC Policy 2026, along with the state's Industrial and Business Development Policy 2026 framework, is being positioned as a key mechanism to attract large enterprises.
The incentives include support of up to 125% of fixed capital investment, 75% net SGST reimbursement, employment and rental subsidies, and exemptions on stamp duty and electricity duty, alongside customised packages for anchor investments.
The state is also promising faster approvals.
Under the Right to Business framework, the government says in-principle approval can be obtained in five days through self-declaration, while statutory clearances are intended to be completed within 45 working days, with deemed approval thereafter.
The state is positioning its Invest Punjab vehicle as the single point of contact for investors, while the FastTrack Punjab portal intends to provide a digital single-window mechanism.
The state believes this combination of financial incentives and faster approvals could help offset the advantages that established GCC hubs have built over decades.
Punjab is also making a less conventional argument of employee retention. The region's healthcare, education, and social infrastructure, including institutions such as PGI, Fortis, and other major hospitals, is being presented as an additional factor in attracting experienced professionals and their families.
While Punjab does not have an established GCC base, it already has several pieces of a GCC ecosystem in place, including technology companies, engineering talent, office infrastructure, universities, and a large regional talent catchment.
The challenge now is whether these can translate into large, high-value GCCs with significant R&D, engineering, and global decision-making functions, rather than primarily cost-driven operations.
That will require the state to show it can retain senior technology talent, scale enterprise infrastructure quickly, and turn policy promises into predictable execution.
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