Wipro to ramp up Chinese operations

Wipro Ltd, India’s third-largest software services exporter, is ramping up its China operations 10-fold by 2010, according to a top industry official. Wipro currently has operations in Chengdu and Shanghai, where it employs 305 people. The ramp-up will boost the company’s headcount in China to over 3,000, according to Anil Bhardwaj, secretary-general, Federation of Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME), who addressed reporters here today.

Wipro is understood to be currently in discussions with the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area (NETDA) to open its third development centre in China in Nantong, a city near Shanghai. The centre is expected to be set up at a new technology park currently coming up in Nantong.

Wipro's spokespersons were unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts. Located amidst the highest concentration of China's leading 250 universities, Nantong offered access to IT/ITES and BPO markets of China and other ASEAN countries, including South Korea and Japan, said Chen Xiao Dong, vice-secretary and vice-director, NETDA. Apart from Wipro, 10 other Indian companies had a presence in China, he said.