Bengaluru remains India’s GCC capital as maturing market cools rental growth

As Bengaluru continues to be India’s largest Global Capability Centre (GCC) market, a new ranking of cities based on the Commercial Property Rental Index (CPRI) for GCCs has shown that the city’s GCC index, as of the first quarter calendar year 2026, recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.6% over the past three years.  

This means that Bengaluru, home to the largest number of GCCs in India, can expect a slow increase in GCC office rents in the days to come, due to the large supply of Grade A/A+ buildings in the city. 

The data has been published as part of the Global Capability Centre Commercial Property Rental Index by IIM Bangalore and CRE Matrix.

A problem of plenty

CPRI, developed by IIM Bangalore and CRE Matrix in 2024, is India’s first scientific model-based commercial rental index for the Indian office market. The new GCC-CPRI ranking isolates the rental behaviour of GCCs from the broader market and creates a first-of-a-kind commercial rental index for the GCC office market in India. 

According to the report, Bengaluru demonstrates steady, resilient growth, while Pune and Hyderabad are the strongest GCC markets currently. 

In the ranking, Bengaluru came third with a CPRI score of 190. Hyderabad emerged as the topper with a CPRI of 212.1 and Pune emerged second. While Bengaluru witnessed a year-on-year decline of 2.7%, Hyderabad witnessed a 5.4% year-on-year growth. 

Speaking to The Hindu, Venkatesh Panchapagesan, professor of finance and chairperson, Real Estate Research Initiative, IIM Bangalore, explained that Bengaluru has a problem of plenty, resulting in slow growth of rents. 

“As the supply increases, which is the problem with mature markets like Bengaluru, there are a lot of options available. There are enough options, which makes it very hard for price growth to rapidly happen. In smaller markets, where the supply is short and demand is high, prices will quickly go up,“ he explained.  

Bengaluru, a GCC capital

Top GCC macro markets in Bengaluru

Source: Global Capability Centre Commercial Property Rental Index – Q1 CY’26

Growth in macro markets

Abhishek Kiran Gupta, co-founder and CEO, CRE Matrix, added that while macro markets such as ORR and Whitefield may see better growth, at an overall level Bengaluru will remain subdued, as people now have more options, including in other cities.  

Currently, around one-third of the grade A/A+ stock in India is in Bengaluru, which experts view as the most mature market in India from a leasing perspective.  

Outer Ring Road (ORR) emerged as the strongest macro-market within Bengaluru, recording 82% GCC leasing in Q1 CY ’26. Whitefield was documented as the most consistent, with 18% three-year CAGR. 

Premium rents

The ranking also documents how Bengaluru is one of the markets where GCC occupiers pay above-market rents.  

“Bengaluru continues to be very attractive, and the GCC demand is so high relative to non-GCC demand that people are willing to pay a premium. The premium is a difference in rentals between GCC buildings and non-GCC buildings, both of grade A/A+ category,“ explained Mr. Panchapagesan.

“Bengaluru recorded a +50% market rent premium in Q1 CY ’26, the highest in the quarter. However, this has not been the case in other quarters. On the other hand, Hyderabad has consistently maintained a 15% premium over several quarters,“ he added.