HYDERABAD/BENGALURU – U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) will open its first technology centre in India in Hyderabad, two people familiar with the plans told Reuters.

The Global Capability Centre, handling technology and research operations and working alongside global teams, will initially employ 1,000 people and scale up, sources said.

GCCs, which were once low-cost outsourcing hubs for global firms, have evolved over the last few years and are now used to support their parent organisations in multiple functions, including daily operations, finance, and research and development.

India is already home to some of the global marquee brands–having their GCC operations in India. This includes companies such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) Walmart (WMT.N) and Target (TGT.N) in Bengaluru while Hyderabad also hosts companies such as McDonald’s (MCD.N) Heineken (HEIN.AS) and Vanguard Group.

The market size of India’s global capability centres (GCCs) is likely to grow to $99 billion-$105 billion by 2030 from $64.6 billion in fiscal 2024, according to a report by IT industry body Nasscom and consulting firm Zinnov released late last year.

Costco did not immediately respond to Reuters request for a comment.

Author Credits- Rishika Sadam and Sai Ishwarbharath B
Reuters