Merck KGaA, the science and technology group based in Darmstadt, Germany, inaugurated its Merck Global Capability Centre in Bengaluru at the end of June 2026. The 17,000 square metre campus in Electronic City brings together about 3,300 professionals who work across data, digital, process and technology roles.
Merck runs three businesses: Life Science, Healthcare and Electronics. The group posted net sales of about 21.1 billion euros for 2025 and employed roughly 62,500 people across 65 countries at the end of that year.
What the centre will do
The campus consolidates Merck’s existing India technology and shared services operations into one integrated site. Its anchor is Digital Enterprise Solutions, the group unit responsible for enterprise platforms, process optimisation, data and AI, technology infrastructure, hyperautomation and process excellence. The company says Bengaluru now holds one of its largest concentrations of this talent, supporting R&D, manufacturing, supply chain, commercial operations and corporate functions worldwide. Business technology teams on site also build digital tools for the Life Science, Healthcare and Electronics businesses. Alessandro De Luca, who heads Digital Enterprise Solutions and serves as Group CIO, described the centre as a core driver of the group’s digital enterprise. The building includes innovation labs, collaborative workspaces and zones designed for neurodiverse employees.
Why Bengaluru
Merck did not set out a detailed rationale, but the logic is plain enough. Its Indian technology and services teams were already based in the city, so a purpose built campus in Electronic City, one of Bengaluru’s established technology corridors, let the company bring them together without uprooting its workforce. Bengaluru’s depth in enterprise software, data engineering and AI also suits a unit whose job is to run digital platforms for the whole group.
Merck’s India footprint
Merck has operated in India since 1967, close to six decades. The country is now its fourth largest workforce hub, behind only Germany, the United States and China. The new campus represents the most visible step yet in pulling its Indian technology and services work into a single, centrally managed operation rather than a collection of separate teams.
What it signals
Large European life science and industrial groups have been slower than American peers to build big India centres, and Merck’s move shows that gap narrowing. The emphasis is less on cost and more on owning core digital capability: enterprise platforms, data and automation that run the whole group. With 3,300 people already in place on opening day, this is a consolidation of existing scale rather than a fresh bet.
At a glance
- Home country: Germany
- Sector: Healthcare and Life Sciences
- City: Bengaluru (Electronic City)
- Date: June 2026
- Status: Operational
- Scale: 17,000 sq m campus for about 3,300 professionals
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