Wipro says it is committed to Odisha project

Rapped by the Odisha government for tardy progress of its Bhubaneswar Development Centre, IT major Wipro has said, it is committed to develop the centre located in the Infocity SEZ.

"While we did face initial setback, we are committed to developing and investing in Bhubaneswar Development Centre in the Infocity SEZ," TK Kurien, chief executive officer, IT Business and Executive Director, Wipro wrote to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

The response follows Patnaik's letter to the company chairman, Azim Premji seeking his intervention to expedite the project work. It may be noted that Wipro had signed a MoU with the state government in 2004 for setting up a software development and BPO service centre in Bhubaneswar.

Kurien said, he has asked his team to prioritise and complete the construction of first G+10 block at the site to house the next wave of new projects and will keep the government informed on the developments.

Against the original plan to construct five towers (G+10) that would house 11,000 technical associates, only one tower upto sixth floor (G+6) has been constructed so far. Twenty six acres of land was allotted to the IT major in 2005 where it had started constructions in 2007. "Till date, only administrative block has been completed. At present, no construction is going on," Patnaik had stated in his letter.

Only about 100 associates are working in the administrative block (G+2) of the Wipro campus after it was converted to a small development centre. The Bhubaneswar Development Centre was put to operation on September 24, 2012. Patnaik had mentioned that in 2009, there was commitment from Wipro 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 sought the intervention of Premji to restart the construction of the planned five towers early so that the proposed 11,000 associates can start working from the Bhubaneswar centre within a year.