India has rapidly emerged as a global hub for life sciences Global Capability Centres (GCCs), with 23 of the world's top 50 life sciences companies establishing centres in the country, a majority of which have been established in the past five years. These findings are part of EY India's latest report, 'Reimagining Life Sciences Global Capability Centres', highlighting India's growing role in driving pharmaceutical research, innovation and end-to-end value creation.
The report finds that life sciences GCCs have rapidly evolved from traditional back-office roles into strategic innovation engines. Far from being limited to support functions, these centres now play a critical role in global mandates such as drug discovery, digital therapeutics, and real-world evidence (RWE) analytics, increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate pipelines and drive patient-centric innovation, the report emphasised.
Four key factors drive India's rise as a central hub for life sciences GCCs, according to the report. First, strong policy support from both central and state governments has eased foreign investment and offers targeted incentives like subsidies and land rebates. Second, the country's talent advantage is immense, with over 2.7 million life sciences professionals and a continuous pipeline of highly-skilled STEM and medical graduates. Third, a mature and vibrant ecosystem provides access to top-tier academic institutions and a booming startup scene. Finally, a robust infrastructure edge offers scalable, high-quality commercial spaces across major and emerging cities, enabling efficient and cost-effective growth for GCCs.
Modern GCCs are managing integrated functions across the life sciences ecosystem – spanning clinical trial operations, pharmacovigilance, regulatory affairs, supply chain analytics, and biostatistics, alongside enabling functions such as Finance, HR, IT, and Data Analytics. This expanded scope is driving measurable enterprise outcomes.
According to the report, penetration across both enabling and core functions has accelerated sharply in the last five years. On the enabling side, life sciences GCCs in India now handle 70 percent of finance, 75 percent of HR, 62 percent of supply chain, and 67 percent of IT functions for their global life sciences firms, marking a significant shift in how GCCs used to operate earlier in the country.
More significantly, their role in core functions has deepened, with 45 percent penetration in drug discovery and development, 60 percent in regulatory affairs, 54 percent in medical affairs, and 50 percent in commercial operations.
"Our analysis highlights how India has rapidly evolved from a support base to the very centre of innovation for global pharma and healthcare. In just five years, GCC penetration in enabling functions like finance, HR, supply chain, and IT has crossed over 60%. But what truly stands out is the deepening role in core functions – from drug discovery and regulatory affairs to medical and commercial operations," said Arindam Sen, Partner and GCC Sector Lead – Technology, Media & Entertainment and Telecommunications at EY India.
"This isn't about cost arbitrage anymore; it's about India becoming indispensable to the global R&D pipeline. Lifesciences multinationals are embedding their most strategic, knowledge-intensive work here, making India the epicentre for life sciences innovation, compliance, and future growth," Sen further added.