The question every US or UAE company asks before committing to a Global Capability Centre in India isn't "how do we set it up" — it's "what will it actually cost." The honest answer is: it depends heavily on team size, role mix and how much of the setup you run yourself versus hand to a partner. Here's what the real cost drivers look like, in US dollars and AED, so you can budget with a number instead of a guess.
The two cost components: one-time setup, ongoing operating cost
GCC cost breaks into two buckets: a one-time setup cost (entity incorporation, legal, initial facilities and IT) and an ongoing per-engineer operating cost (salary, statutory benefits, facilities and management overhead, fully loaded). The figures below are indicative ranges for budgeting purposes — your actual number depends on scope, and we size it precisely against your roadmap in a free consultation.
One-time setup costs
- Entity incorporation & legal setup: roughly $15,000–$40,000 (AED 55,000–147,000)
- Facilities & IT setup for a first squad (5–15 engineers): roughly $20,000–$50,000 (AED 73,000–184,000)
- Initial leadership & recruitment for the founding team: typically 1–2 months of lead time, priced into the retainer rather than billed separately
Ongoing cost per engineer, by seniority
- Mid-level engineer (3–6 years): roughly $18,000–$28,000/year fully loaded (AED 66,000–103,000)
- Senior engineer (7+ years) or DevOps/architecture specialist: roughly $28,000–$45,000/year fully loaded (AED 103,000–165,000)
- Engineering leadership (delivery lead, engineering manager): roughly $45,000–$70,000/year fully loaded (AED 165,000–257,000)
"Fully loaded" means salary, statutory benefits, facilities, IT and management overhead combined — the number to compare against, not base salary alone.
GCC vs outsourcing: where the cost curve crosses
A staffing vendor or outsourcing contract often looks cheaper at small scale — there's no incorporation cost, no facilities to manage. But per-engineer cost stays flat or rises as you add headcount, because you're paying vendor margin on every hire. A GCC has a higher fixed cost upfront and a lower marginal cost per engineer after that — which is why the economics favor a GCC once you're consistently running more than roughly 15–20 engineers, and favor staff augmentation or outsourcing below that.
What actually moves the number
- Role mix — a team weighted toward senior and specialist roles costs more per head than a junior-heavy team.
- Speed of scaling — compressing a 12-month hiring plan into 3 months adds recruitment cost.
- Governance & compliance depth — ISO 27001-aligned security and audit processes cost more to run than a bare-minimum setup, and are usually non-negotiable for regulated buyers.
- Build-Operate-Transfer timing — transferring the entity to you earlier changes who carries setup and legal cost.
Get a number, not a range
These ranges are a starting point for budgeting, not a quote — the real number depends on your role mix, team size and timeline. We size a GCC cost estimate against your actual roadmap in a free consultation, with US dollar and AED figures side by side.