Wipro to set up facility for 28,000 staff in Bhubaneswar

After the Odisha government ticked off Wipro for going slow on its development centre here, the company has committed a massive expansion of the facility, which would house 28,000 employees. The software major, however, has not spelt out a timeline for implementing its ambitious expansion plan.

In a letter to the government, Wipro said it had approached the Centre for approval to be the co-developer for the special economic zone (SEZ). The matter is likely to be taken up at the next meeting of the Board of Approvals (BoA) for SEZs under Union commerce and industry ministry.

“The teams have worked out a detailed engineering plan for the next phase. On receipt of the SEZ approval, we will apply for building plan approval with the state government and begin the construction for 4,000 employees immediately on obtaining the permission. The centre is planned for 28,000 employees with 2.8 million square feet of built-up space,” T K Kurien, chief executive officer of Wipro, said in the letter to Odisha's IT minister Pranab Prakash Das.

The company’s response comes in the wake of the state government’s recent warning that it would take back the 26 acres of land allotted at a prime location in the city, if the project was delayed further.

Kurien has assured the government the company will add 1,800 employees in the next 10 months.

“I am confident that the we will meet the commitment made in January 2015 of growing the centre to 1,800 employees in 10 months. The facility for 1,800 has also been fitted out and I see no constraint on the front,” he said in the letter.

Kurien plans to meet Odisha’s IT minister Das and chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

The state IT department had asked Wipro to respond latest by June 15 or face stern action in terms of cancellation of the allotted land. The department had earlier written several letters to the company, urging it to expedite work on its city campus and called for timelines in this regard.

The state government, in 2005, had allotted the land to Wipro in Infocity, the IT hub. The original plan was to construct five towers, which would house 11,000 technical associates. Although Wipro commenced construction in 2007, it had gone slow on the work and lagged its peers Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tech Mahindra, which have set up full-fledged campuses in the city.

Wipro Technologies (Wipro Ltd)