Lundi does not default to India. Real value at scale, with the right team structure, the right city, and clear-eyed expectations on attrition and senior compensation. Bangalore and Hyderabad for engineering and GCCs; Pune, Chennai, and NCR for specialized operations.
India is the default answer for 'where should we hire offshore' — and the default is often wrong. India works extraordinarily well for the right use case (large engineering or technical operations teams at 50+ FTE, where the cost advantage scales) and poorly for the wrong one (small teams, customer-facing roles requiring cultural alignment with US/UK norms, senior individual contributors expecting Polish-level retention). Employer-side contributions run roughly 12–13% above gross. Annual attrition runs 25–30%+ in major tech hubs — baseline, not exception. Lundi only recommends India when the team structure, role mix, and operating model are explicitly designed for the Indian context — never as a default.
India is the world's largest offshore services market — Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, and the NCR (Gurgaon, Noida) employ several million in IT services, BPO, GCC operations, and product engineering. The scale is real. The technical talent pool is real. So is the attrition.
Lundi does not default to India. Before recommending India, we ask:
If three of four answers are no, we recommend Poland, Vietnam, or the Philippines instead.
Where India is the right answer.
Bangalore (Bengaluru) is India's tech and engineering capital. Major GCC presence — Accenture, Wipro, Infosys, plus 1500+ international GCCs including Goldman Sachs, Walmart, Target, Lowe's, and JPMorgan. Strong engineering depth across backend, mobile, data, and ML/AI. Senior compensation has inflated meaningfully — senior engineers now run ₹4M–₹8M/year ($48K–$96K), team leads ₹6M–₹12M/year ($72K–$144K). The cost advantage versus the US is real; versus Eastern Europe it is narrower than buyers expect.
Hyderabad is the second-tier tech hub with somewhat lower cost and lower attrition than Bangalore. Microsoft, Google, and Apple have major operations. Strong fit for product engineering and analytics teams.
Pune is the engineering services hub with strong automotive and embedded systems specialization — TCS, Persistent Systems, Wipro, plus international clients.
Chennai is the BPO and back-office hub with cost advantages over Bangalore but a smaller senior engineering pool.
NCR (Gurgaon, Noida) is the BPO, finance services, and corporate hub — Genpact, EXL, Concentrix, plus financial services GCC operations.
Operating context. India is on IST (UTC+5:30), 9.5 hours ahead of US East Coast in summer. Significant time-zone challenge for real-time US collaboration; works well for follow-the-sun handoff and async work. English is the standard business language — fluency among educated professionals is high, but accent and idiom variation exists. India vs Philippines: India wins on technical depth, scale, and cost for senior engineering; Philippines wins on English neutrality, customer-facing role suitability, and lower attrition. India vs Poland: India wins on scale and per-unit cost; Poland wins on retention, English neutrality, EU compliance, and senior individual contributor quality.
Employer cost reality. Employer-side contributions run ~12–13% above gross: EPF (12% on basic salary, capped at ₹15,000/month basic = ₹1,800/month maximum for many), ESI (where applicable, for lower-salary roles), gratuity (4.81% per year of service, payable on exit after 5 years), professional tax (minor). 13th month not legally required but customary in many companies. Total all-in cost typically lands ~18–22% above gross including bonuses and benefits. The cost advantage that originally drove offshoring to India has narrowed — for senior roles in Bangalore, the gap to Poland or Vietnam is small.
Indian employment is governed by a patchwork of central and state-level legislation — Industrial Disputes Act, Shops and Establishments Acts (state-specific), Payment of Gratuity Act, Employees' Provident Fund Act. Termination is generally workable for white-collar roles but requires specific procedures.
EOR works up to ~50 FTE. Lundi's Indian entity handles compliant employment from first hire onward. EPF, ESI (where applicable), gratuity provisioning, professional tax, TDS (tax deduction at source) — all administered. Statutory holidays and earned leave (typically 18–24 days/year per state). The EOR model holds up further in India than most markets given standardised employment infrastructure.
Local entity makes sense for large scale or GCC operations. A private limited company (Pvt Ltd) in India is the standard structure. STPI (Software Technology Parks of India) and SEZ (Special Economic Zone) registration provide significant tax benefits for export-oriented software services — STPI offers tax holidays on export income, SEZ offers more comprehensive benefits with higher compliance overhead. For genuinely large operations (100+ FTE), the captive GCC model under Pvt Ltd with SEZ structure is materially more economic than EOR. Lundi's Build–Operate–Transfer pathway addresses this.
GST and TDS structures. Indian operations require GST registration (18% standard rate, applies to most service charges from EOR to client) and TDS compliance on multiple categories. These are routine but require local infrastructure.
Why attrition is the central operational challenge. Indian tech attrition runs 25–30%+ in Bangalore tech hubs, occasionally higher in hot specializations (data engineering, ML, senior full-stack). This is structural — multiple competing employers, frequent role-change-driven raises (25–40% jumps between employers), and ambient career mobility. Retention requires explicit operating choices: competitive compensation refresh cycles, internal mobility paths, engaging work, and recognition. Generic EOR platforms don't engage with this — they hire and book, you carry the attrition. Lundi structures retention into the operating model.
Why HRBP infrastructure matters more in India than buyers expect. Performance management in India requires documented coaching, written warnings, and procedural fairness — particularly for involuntary exits. State-specific labour law variations (Karnataka vs Telangana vs Maharashtra) create real compliance complexity. Every Lundi India team has a named HRBP from day one. For 25+ headcount teams, this scales to a dedicated in-country HR partner — non-optional at scale.
What it costs to employ someone through Lundi.
Lundi's cost is the all-in cost of the employee — gross salary plus statutory employer contributions plus customary benefits — and a Lundi management fee on top. The management fee depends on team size and scope: smaller teams pay a higher per-head rate, teams of 20+ get materially better unit economics, and Build–Operate–Transfer engagements are structured separately.
The alternative paths look like: setting up your own local entity (meaningful months of legal and accounting work, plus ongoing in-country HR, payroll, and compliance infrastructure), engaging a local recruitment agency on contingency (typically a percentage of first-year compensation, paid once, with no ongoing employment relationship), or hiring as a contractor (lower upfront cost, real misclassification risk in most jurisdictions). Lundi is faster than entity setup, structurally different from contingency recruitment, and lower-risk than contractor arrangements.
Talk to us for specific pricing.
The notice period for employees with at least one year of service is one month (or equivalent wages in lieu thereof). No notice is required for employees terminated for misconduct.
When India is the right answer, typical teams Lundi builds and operates:
Engineering Team at Scale — Bangalore or Hyderabad (30 to 100+ people). Backend, mobile, data, ML/AI, platform engineering. The configuration where India's cost advantage scales. Mid-level engineers ₹2.5M–₹4.5M/year ($30K–$54K) all-in; senior engineers ₹4M–₹8M/year ($48K–$96K); team leads and architects ₹6M–₹12M/year ($72K–$144K). Senior compensation now overlaps with mid-tier European markets — the cost advantage is in mid-level scale, not senior unit cost.
GCC / Captive Operations — Bangalore, Hyderabad, or Pune (50 to 500+ people). The largest international GCCs in India run thousands of FTEs. Lundi structures and operates smaller GCC operations (50–500 FTEs) for mid-market companies that want India scale without internal entity and infrastructure build. Under SEZ registration, unit economics are materially better than EOR. Lundi's BOT pathway includes SEZ structuring at handover.
Analytics & Data Operations — Bangalore or Hyderabad (15 to 50 people). Data engineering, analytics, BI, reporting operations. Strong fit for companies needing 24/7 data operations or analytics-heavy back-office. Mid-level $25K–$45K/year all-in.
Back-Office Operations — Chennai, Pune, or NCR (20 to 100 people). Finance operations, accounting, controllership, vendor management. Big Four alumni common. Mid-level $20K–$40K/year all-in.
Where Lundi does NOT recommend India:
Five things distinguish Lundi from a generic EOR platform when India is the right answer:
1. Local recruiters who understand the Indian senior talent market. Lundi recruiters in Bangalore and Hyderabad know the Indian GCC and product company networks — which senior engineers at the major employers are looking for international work, what compensation expectations look like in real time, and which roles are being chased by five employers simultaneously. The cost advantage versus alternatives is real, but only if your offer is calibrated to the current market.
2. Dedicated Indian entity, not a shared employment pool. Lundi employs through its own Indian Pvt Ltd, not a co-employed marketplace pool. Where scale is in view, we can structure the entity for STPI or SEZ registration — significant CIT improvement on export-services operations. Build-Operate-Transfer pathway includes entity structuring.
3. An embedded HRBP, not a support ticket. Indian performance management requires documented procedural fairness. Indian retention requires active engagement — competitive refresh cycles, internal mobility, leadership development. Every Lundi India team has a named HRBP from day one. For 25+ headcount teams this scales to a dedicated in-country HR partner — non-optional given Indian employment law and attrition dynamics.
4. Hyperlocal operations. Lundi has physical presence in India. Workspace from Bangalore tech parks (Whitefield, Manyata, Embassy Tech Village) through to dedicated office space. Equipment procurement local. Health benefits through ICICI Lombard, Star Health, or HDFC ERGO — Indian white-collar standard, not generic international cover. State-specific compliance handled in-house.
5. Rooted in India as a focused operational market — not a default choice. India is one of Lundi's operational markets — but it's the most disciplined one. We don't take India engagements that don't fit the operational model. Where India is right, we go deep. Where it isn't, we say so.
Lundi works with companies building teams of 10 or more across business, technical, and operational functions . Not for one-off hires or individual placements.
EOR platforms employ individuals for you. Lundi recruits, employs, and operates concentrated teams — including day-to-day management, HR, and an optional path to your own entity. It's the operating model for companies that have outgrown the EOR ceiling.
