The Hindu Business Line : Wipro setting up development facility in Kochi

The Kerala Minister for IT and Industries, Mr P.K. Kunhalikutty, the General Manager (Operations), Wipro Technologies, Mr Hari Hegde, exchanging copies of the lease agreement at the Infopark in Kochi on Monday. Ms Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, IT, Kerala, looks on. -- K.K. Mustafah

Kochi , July 19

INFORMATION Technology major Wipro is setting up a development facility at Kochi, which will be the `nerve-centre' for the company's West Asian and Australian operations.

Wipro has leased 14.26 acres at Kochi for the project, where it will set up a campus. The company has also requested the State Government for an additional 25 acres for further expansion.

To begin with, Wipro will start operations at the third-floor of the Infopark SDF-IT building here, where the company has been provided with a `plug-and-play' facility.

The lease deed for the built-up area was signed between Mr Bala Giridhar, Chief Information Officer and Head of Infrastructure and Facilities of Wipro Infotech, and Mr K. G. Girish Babu, CEO of Infopark, in the presence of Mr P. K. Kunhalikutty, Kerala Minister for Industry and IT. The lease for the land was signed between Mr Hari Prasad Hegde, GM-Operations, Wipro Ltd and Mr Babu.

"With the coming of Wipro a year after the arrival of Infosys into the State, Kerala has taken its due position in the world IT map. The decision of Wipro to invest in Kerala heralds a new phase in the growth of Kerala as a major IT destination," the Minister said.

Wipro officials did not say how many people the company will hire for the Kochi facility. "Given the kind of space, we can have 4,000 seats," they said, adding that each seat will entail an investment of Rs 3 lakh.

The officials neither did say what kind of software development would be carried out from this centre.

Meanwhile, the Infopark's Smart Business Centre, with a built-up area of 11,800 sq.ft, was inaugurated by Mr Kunhalikutty.