How much does it cost for a UK company to set up a GCC in India?

A 20-engineer team in India at the top 25% bracket costs approximately £720,000–£1,000,000 per year — versus £1.9M–£2.7M for an equivalent London team. One-time setup costs run £50,000–£95,000. See the full GCC setup cost breakdown for more detail.

What is the GMT to IST timezone overlap for a UK GCC team?

GMT (UTC+0) to IST (UTC+5:30) gives a 5.5-hour difference and 4–5 hours of daily overlap: 9am GMT = 2:30pm IST. This is one of the most comfortable timezone combinations for offshore teams — similar to working with Western Europe.

How long does it take to hire through GCC Nexus?

GCC Nexus shortlists 5–8 qualified candidates within 10–14 days of a confirmed brief. Your first engineer can be operational within 2–4 weeks of engagement. GCC Nexus handles employment, payroll, compliance and workspace setup in parallel with your interview process.

GCC Nexus · UK companies

Setting up a GCC in India for UK companies.
GBP costs, GMT overlap and India's BFSI talent advantage.

Quick answer

UK companies have been building India captive centres for decades — India's BFSI engineering talent is among the most relevant globally. GMT gives 4–5 hours daily overlap with IST. A senior engineer costs £26,000–£39,000/year at the top 25% bracket — 55–65% less than London. GCC Nexus manages everything.

Plan your GCC Full GCC guide

Cost comparison

India vs UK — engineering cost in GBP

Senior engineer, top 25% talent bracket. India salary = engineer gross salary. India total = includes PF, gratuity, health insurance and workspace.

India via GCC Nexus

Senior engineer salary (top 25%)£26,000–£39,000/yr

Total employer cost£31,000–£47,000/yr

Time to first hire2–4 weeks

Talent bracketTop 25% — product MNCs and funded startups

UK local hire

Senior engineer total cost£95,000–£135,000/yr

Saving with India team60–70%

Timezone overlap with ISTGMT: 4–5 hrs daily

Best India citiesBangalore · Hyderabad · Pune

Best cities for UK companies: Bangalore for fintech, product and deep tech. Pune for enterprise backend and BFSI. Both have strong GMT-compatible working cultures and large BFSI engineering talent pools.

Timezone

Timezone overlap — UK ↔ India

IST is UTC+5:30. GMT (UTC+0) to IST (UTC+5:30) gives a 5.5-hour difference — resulting in 4–5 hours of daily overlap: 9am–1pm GMT = 2:30pm–6:30pm IST. One of the most workable timezone combinations for offshore teams.

GCC Nexus structures India team schedules to front-load collaboration during the overlap window — standups, sprint planning and design reviews happen at the start of the UK workday. The remaining hours are async-first with detailed written standups, Loom walkthroughs and clear ticket documentation.

Top roles

Most popular engineering roles for UK companies

Role	India salary (senior, top 25%)	Hire page
Python developer	$46,000/yr	Hire →
Full stack developer	$39,500/yr	Hire →
Data engineer	$40,000/yr	Hire →
DevOps engineer	$38,500/yr	Hire →
ML engineer	$50,500/yr	Hire →
React developer	$33,500/yr	Hire →

All salary figures from GCC Nexus salary_benchmarks, senior level, top 25% talent bracket, ₹90:$1. See full salary benchmark for all roles and seniority levels.

FAQ

Common questions from UK companies

Ready to build your India team?

GCC Nexus serves UK companies — tell us your requirements and we'll shortlist candidates in 10–14 days.

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Setting up a GCC in India for UK companies.GBP costs, GMT overlap and India's BFSI talent advantage.