Karnataka Taps Naukri to Fast-Track GCC Hiring Beyond Bengaluru

Karnataka is sharpening its pitch to leading firms setting up Global Capability Centres (GCCs) by reducing the time it takes to hire, rather than through subsidies.

In a new partnership with Naukri.com, the state government is offering newly set-up GCCs 90 days of free access to hiring tools, employer branding, and sourcing services. The move aims to address key challenges faced by global companies, including sourcing talent quickly outside Bengaluru.

The initiative, routed through the Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) under the Department of Electronics, IT and Biotechnology, positions the state less as a funder and more as a facilitator.

“There’s no financial or legal implication for this MoU. No benefits are exchanged between the government and Naukri.com,” a spokesperson at Karnataka Innovation And Technology Society (KITS) told AIM.

KITS is a government body that operates under the Department of Electronics, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Science & Technology of the Government of Karnataka. 

At a time when states like Telangana and Tamil Nadu are offering capital subsidies and payroll incentives, Karnataka is experimenting with a lighter-touch approach—removing friction instead of underwriting expansion.

Hiring Bottleneck

The programme introduces a customised ‘GCC Starter Package’ for companies registering with the state’s KATALYST cell. The focus is on accelerating talent discovery, especially for firms unfamiliar with India’s hiring landscape.

Officials say that access to talent, particularly in Beyond Bengaluru regions, can be challenging for GCCs with headquarters outside India because their leaders may not be familiar with the local talent landscape. 

As GCCs evolve from back-office units into high-value innovation hubs, time-to-hire and local talent discovery have become critical challenges, particularly for multinational firms entering India for the first time. 

The government’s pitch is to help companies navigate these talent pools more quickly.

Bengaluru remains India's leading tech hub, housing nearly 1,000 GCCs and employing over 6 lakh professionals. But as the city reaches saturation, rising costs and talent dispersion are pushing the next wave to tier-2 cities such as Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Hubballi-Dharwad.

The programme is not mandatory, and all GCCs registering with KITS are informed about the offering, but they decide whether to adopt it. A KITS spokesperson said it's up to each GCC to connect with Naukri.com and benefit from it, which emphasises the state’s role as a facilitator rather than a regulator or funder.

The state clarified that the arrangement is non-exclusive and that, as there are no financial or legal implications, the government is open to partnering with private players to boost the business ecosystem. 

Even without exclusivity, early integration into the state’s GCC onboarding pipeline could give platforms like Naukri.com strategic visibility as competition intensifies for enterprise hiring mandates.

The 90-day Window

The 90-day free access period is designed as a discovery phase rather than a full hiring cycle. “The 90 days are to give GCCs a sense of the applications they’re receiving,” officials say. 

In effect, the programme allows companies to test talent availability, benchmark response quality, and build initial pipelines before committing to long-term hiring strategies. KITS states there are no binding performance metrics and this was merely a benefit option for GCCs, with no financial burden on the government.

There are no formal targets for the number of GCCs onboarded, jobs created, or reductions in hiring timelines. While this keeps the programme easy to roll out, it also makes impact harder to measure.

A shift in Karnataka’s GCC Playbook

The move signals a subtle but important shift in Karnataka’s GCC strategy.

Instead of competing purely on financial incentives, the state is focusing on execution speed, particularly in the first 90 days, a phase where many GCC setups lose momentum due to hiring delays.

This approach reflects a broader trend where GCC decisions are driven not only by cost benefits but also by the speed of scaling operations, the availability of niche talent, and the preparedness of the ecosystem.

With India projected to host over 2,500 GCCs by the end of the decade, and newer hubs emerging across states, competition is intensifying.

Karnataka believes that in the next phase, speed and reducing early friction may matter as much as incentives.