IT services major HCLTech on Friday opened a 500-seat fintech centre in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), from where it plans to deliver high-end technology services, including artificial intelligence (AI), data engineering and other emerging digital technologies, to banking and financial services clients.The company has already hired about 100 employees, many of them sourced locally, and has started technology delivery from the facility. The centre, which HCLTech calls its Global Technology Office, is spread across two floors in a commercial complex in GIFT IFSC and was inaugurated by Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi. “We are happy to say that some of our very important financial services clients will be serviced from here. We will engage in IT development for them,” Rahul Singh, Chief Operating Officer – Corporate Functions, HCLTech, told businessline.Explaining the rationale behind the investment, Singh said HCLTech saw an opportunity to expand in GIFT City as the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) encouraged technology and fintech companies to establish operations in the financial hub. “So when IFSCA was encouraging techfin companies to come here, we saw an opportunity, as some of our clients in the banking sector are already here,” he said.The company expects the centre to become a hub for advanced technology work. “We have built a 500-seater in the city and we hope to do a good volume of business from here. Already 100 people have been enrolled here and we have already started technology delivery from here. Within technology, our effort is to make this centre where higher-end work is done, including work around AI, data and new-age technologies,” Singh said.The opening marks the first phase of HCLTech’s expansion in GIFT City. Last year, businessline had reported that the company had planned to establish a techfin hub in the financial centre with the potential to employ 1,500 people. Asked whether the company had scaled down those plans, Singh said the hiring roadmap remained unchanged and would be driven by customer demand. “We have not scaled down our plans. Our model is about ramping up resources. We have already committed to a larger workforce and, as more success happens, we will hire more,” he said.He added that customer interest would determine the pace of expansion. “Our customers are equally important in city selection. While we have created this environment in GIFT City, we have to make it attractive so that customers are willing to work with our teams here. For them to work with our teams, the teams have to be talented. Therefore, our effort is to develop the right talent in the new technologies that customers are asking for right now,” Singh said. To build a talent pipeline for the centre, HCLTech also announced partnerships with IIT Gandhinagar and Gujarat Technological University to develop skills in AI, data and other emerging technologies for the technology and financial services sectors.Several leading technology companies have already operationalised or announced TechFin centres in GIFT City. These include Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro and Hexaware, which are collectively expected to create more than 5,600 jobs over the coming years. Their centres are focused on developing technology solutions for banking, capital markets, insurance, wealth management and other regulated financial services for both Indian and global clients.Published on July 17, 2026