WeP to set up manf unit in Himachal

BADDI/NALAGARH:The Rs 290 crore hardware major, WeP Peripherals Ltd--formerly known as Wipro ePeripherals Ltd--is setting up a new manufacturing facility costing around Rs 20 crore in Baddi, the industrial belt in Nalagarh district in Himachal Pradesh. This will be the company's third manufacturing facility in the country after Mysore in Karnataka and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

Spread over 12 acres, this state-of-the-art manufacturing facility is expected to be fully ready in about 12 months time--though production is slated to commence within the next three to four months. Employing around 300 people, it would have a total capacity of manufacturing close to one million products of various types including dot matrix printers, UPS systems and networking components.

The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh, in the presence of Wipro Ltd chairman Azim Premji, laid the foundation stone of the facility. Congratulating WeP on setting up this manufacturing unit, Singh in his address said, "It is a welcome addition for HP and I hope that it will encourage others also to come here. We have industry-friendly policies and we promise to remove all hurdles faced by companies wanting to come to HP(Himachal Pradesh)."

Addressing the gathering of more than 200 people including WeP employees, its channel partners and senior HP government officials, Premji said, "This is a beautiful part of our country. The state has hard working and a dedicated set of people. Preservation of the state's beauty needs to be maintained by way of encouraging non-polluting industries. IT sector is the right choice for that as not only it is non-polluting but also results in high employment generation."

Commending WeP on this facility, he added, "Wipro is proud to give birth to WeP, which has a very innovative business model. Seventy percent of the company's sales come from products introduced in the last three years. I am sure that the quality benchmark of this manufacturing facility will be equal to the best in the world."

Thanking the chief minister for his support, WeP MD and CEO Ram N Agarwal said, "We are happy to have our facility at HP, as the progressive state Government policies towards manufacturing is very encouraging. We started thinking about this project about one year back and since then got extremely good support from all government departments and its officials."

Added WeP GM (North Zone) Ranbir Singh and the man responsible for making this facility possible, "WeP has over seven lakh customers for its products, and this manufacturing facility will increase our availability and proximity with consumers. Products manufactured from this unit can be conveniently reached to any location in the North within 24 hours."

Later on Premji praised the work done by some of the WeP people including Singh by handing over mementos to them. The foundation stone laying ceremony ended with the Chief Minister and Premji planting a sapling each at the campus. Chairman of WeP Peripherals Arun Thiagarajan was also present at the occasion.