Wipro hits the slow lane on hiring in Bhubaneswar

IT major had committed to scale up headcount to 2,000 by April this year to catch up with peers - Infosys and TCS

Information-technology behemoth Wipro’s expansion plan at its Bhubaneswar development centre is in the slow lane. Wipro, which had committed to scale up its headcount in the city to 2,000 by April this year to catch up with larger peers like Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), is yet to deliver on its promised expansion plan.

Sources at the Odisha government said Wipro’s targeted addition in manpower is getting delayed. “Wipro has informed its first phase expansion in Bhubaneswar would be completed by October. We are reviewing the expansion status,” said an official source.

Presently, Wipro has a pool of around 800 executives in Bhubaneswar. 

“Wipro remains committed to its investment and plans to grow in the city of Bhubaneswar. However, we do not disclose our facility-wise headcount and do not provide hiring projections,” Wipro said in an e-mail reply.

As Wipro looks to expand headcount, it is also planning to shift four important accounts, including Electrolux, to the Bhubaneswar centre.

In December 2015, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji (pictured), in his maiden trip to Odisha, had jointly taken stock of the company’s Odisha project with top state officials.

Wipro had communicated to the state government last year its ambitious plan to set up a 28,000-seater facility in Bhubaneswar. The original plan was to construct five towers, which would house 11,000 technical associates. Although Wipro commenced construction in 2007, it had gone slow on the work and lagged its peers Infosys, TCS and Tech Mahindra - which have set up full-fledged campuses in the city.

Wipro had been allotted 26 acres of land in 2005 in Infocity, one of the prime locations. The state government had even warned to take back land if Wipro’s expansion project was delayed further.