Wipro to set up 2 software centres

By Y.P. Rajesh

BANGALORE: Information technology firm Wipro Ltd will invest around $17 million to set up two centres which would add 2,500 employees to its 8,600-strong team of software engineers. Sudip Banerjee, Wipro's chief executive for operations and staffing, told Reuters at the weekend that the new centres in Mumbai and Calcutta would be ready in early 2002.

"We will be investing about Rs 300-400 million in each of the two cities...in land, buildings and machinery," Mr Banerjee said. Bangalore-based Wipro has software development centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Madras, Pune and New Delhi. The company, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange last month, has been on a recruitment drive to keep pace with the fast growth in the software services business.

Wipro hired nearly 2,000 software professionals during the six months ended September as revenues more than doubled year-on-year during the two quarters. India's software service firms have so far largely focused on locating in the southern Bangalore city, considered the country's technology capital, besides Bombay, Madras and Hyderabad.

But, they are now coming under pressure to hire trained professionals and are moving to other urban centres in search of talent as Indian tech colleges are unable to produce enough graduates to keep up with growing demand. The firms are thinking up new ways to plug holes in their strategy to recruit and retain employees.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.