Wipro to spend Rs 200cr in Vizag over 5yrs

Wipro Technologies will invest about Rs 200 crore over the next four-five years in its upcoming campus in Visakhapatnam. Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy laid the foundation stone for the campus on Friday.

A Lakshman Rao, chief operating officer of Wipro, said the company would make an initial investment of  Rs 25 crore in Vizag, and hire about 750 employees. "We have plans to expand our activity by investing about Rs 200 crore over the next four-five years and create 6,000 jobs," he added.

The Andhra Pradesh government has allotted seven acres to Wipro in the heart of the city at a nominal cost to promote IT industry in the city.

Chief Minister Reddy said the state government had initiated steps to provide working capital to the loss-making public sector undertaking, Bharat Heavy Plate and Vessels, through sale of government land adjacent to the plant.

"Things are now happening in Vizag. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is coming to Vizag on May 20 to inaugurate the construction work of the Rs 8,692 crore Visakhapatnam Steel Plant expansion project. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) is planning to invest about Rs 16,000 crore in Vizag over the next four-five years while NTPC is also spending about Rs 5,500 crore for expansion of  the Simhadri plant. The Brandix apparel unit will provide job opportunities for about 60,000 people in their Vizag venture, The Andhra Pradesh special economic zone and Pharma City would also attract huge investments. All these would create enormous job opportunities," the Chief Minister said.