Wipro to ramp up Odisha centre headcount to 4,000

In the first major expansion drive for its software development centre in the city, IT major Wipro Technologies has committed a 4,000-seater facility in Bhubaneswar. The facility would come up on the IT firm's existing campus spread over 26 acres of land at the Infocity area on city's outskirts.

"Wipro has discussed its expansion plan for Bhubaneswar. They have committed to set up a 4,000-seater complex in 18 months. Construction work on this facility is expected to commence in a couple of months. Wipro would set up a G+8 block at its existing facility. The state government wanted commitment from Wipro on employment and they have assured us the same. We will be monitoring the progress of Wipro's expansion," said principal secretary, IT (Odisha) G Srinivas.

Hariprasad Hegde, senior vice president and global head (operations) of Wipro, called on Srinivas and the state IT minister Pranab Prakash Das on Wednesday. Presently, only around 100 employees are engaged at Wipro's development centre in Bhubaneswar. Compared to its peers- Infosys Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tech Mahindra, Wipro has been a laggard in expanding its presence in the city.

Wipro's lukewarm approach had enraged the state government. Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik in August 2013 had written to Wipro chairman Azim Premji, complaining about the tardy progress on the development centre.

"Till date only one administrative block has been completed. The original plan was to construct five towers (G+10) which would house 11,000 technical associates. But only one tower up to sixth floor (G+6) has been constructed and at present, no construction is going on. I may mention here that in 2009, there was commitment from your side to start the centre and make it functional in a short time. But the progress over last four years has been very slow," the chief minister had said in the letter. He had sought Premji's intervention to expedite the expansion plan to ensure that 11,000 technical associates can start working from the Bhubaneswar centre. Wipro's chief executive officer T K Kurien had assured that the Bhubaneswar centre will be given priority and construction of first G+10 block of the project will be completed soon to accommodate the next wave of new projects. The state government had allotted 26 acres of land to Wipro in 2005 to build five towers (G+10) for accommodating 11,000 technical associates.