Wipro to invest Rs 200cr in Vizag campus

Wipro Technologies will invest about Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion)  in its upcoming campus in Visakhapatnam over the next four-five years. Chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy laid the foundation stone for the campus on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, A Lakshman Rao, chief operating officer of Wipro, announced that the company would make an initial investment of Rs 25 crore (Rs 250 million) in Vizag and create employment opportunities for about 750.

"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 7 acres to Wipro in the heart of the city at a nominal cost to promote IT industry in the city.

After laying the foundation stone for the Wipro campus, the chief minister told mediapersons that 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 works of the Rs 8,692-crore (Rs 86.92 billion) Visakhapatnam Steel Plant expansion project. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited is planning to invest about Rs 16,000 crore (Rs 160 billion) in Vizag projects over the next four-five years while NTPC is also spending about Rs 5,500 crore (Rs 55 billion) for expansion of  Simhadri plant.

Brandix apparel unit will provide job opportunities for about 60,000 people in their Vizag venture, Besides, the Andhra Pradesh special economic zone, and Pharma City will attract huge investments. All these would create enormous job opportunities," the chief minister said.