Wipro to expand IT operations in Vizag.

Wipro Limited chairman Azim Premji recently called on Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and discussed the information technology services and consulting major's expansion plans in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam.

Premji, accompanied by his team comprising Shireesh Sahai, director (government business – south Asian), Wipro GE Healthcare, SN Prakash, regional business head (government business – Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh), and Hari Prasad Hegde, senior vice-president and global head of operations (IT business), sought an NOC (no-objection certificate) to develop a special economic zone to which Naidu agreed.

Wipro has presence in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. Its export turnover from Hyderabad is pegged at Rs. 3,500 crore and has an employee base of over 1,000. The company was given 7.14 acre at Rs 80 lakh each on an outright sale basis in 2004-05. The company has already constructed 200,000 sft on four acre and at present employs around 650 professionals.

With Naidu agreeing to Wipro's request for according the NOC, the company would develop the SEZ on the remaining three acre, creating employment for 6,400 professionals over the next five years, said IT minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy.

BS