BENGALURU: US-based banking major US Bancorp is in talks to lease more than 650,000 sq ft of office space in Chennai to sup its first global capability centre (GCC) in India, marking the lender’s entry into the country’s expanding offshore operations ecosystem.
The proposed space will be taken at Embassy Tech Splendid, a commercial office campus owned by Embassy Office Parks REIT, through a build-operate-transfer-service model with Cognizant Technology Solutions, people aware of the development said.
“Under this structure, the technology services firm will initially build and operate the centre before transferring operations to the bank at a later stage. The monthly rent is estimated at Rs 4.5-5 crore, making it one of the larger recent office leasing deals in Chennai‘s commercial real estate market,” said one of the persons cited above.
The facility is expected to house technology, analytics and back-office operations supporting the bank’s global business.
“The Minneapolis-headquartered bank is also evaluating an additional 4 lakh sq ft of office space across Bengaluru and Hyderabad as it scales its GCC presence in India over the next few years,”said a second person cited earlier.
Emails sent to Cognizant Technology Solutions and Embassy Office Parks REIT seeking comment remained unanswered until press time.
The expansion aligns with the bank’s strategy to insource more technology and operational capabilities.
Industry reports earlier indicated the lender plans to hire 3,000 to 5,000 employees in India over the next five years to support digital banking, data analytics and cloud technology initiatives.
According to property consultants and developers, global capability centres have emerged as one of the largest drivers of office leasing demand in India’s top cities. American corporations have significantly expanded their real estate footprint in the country, with GCCs accounting for more than two-thirds of leasing activity by US firms, according to property consultancy data.
India currently hosts more than 1,600 GCCs employing over 1.6 million professionals, with sectors such as banking, financial services, healthcare and technology increasingly using the country as a hub for innovation, data engineering and digital product development.
Banking and financial services companies have been among the fastest-growing GCC occupiers as they build internal technology capabilities. Citizens Financial Group recently launched a GCC in Hyderabad in partnership with Cognizant to support enterprise technology and digital banking initiatives. Optum has also leased large office space in the same Embassy campus to expand its GCC operations.
Embassy Office Parks REIT owns more than 50 million sq ft of office assets across five Indian cities, with multinational corporations accounting for a majority of its tenants.
The REIT has been expanding its Chennai portfolio amid rising demand from GCCs, research and development centres and technology firms.
