Wipro to Build World-Class Software Development Facility in Hyderabad.

Business/Technology Editors

BANGALORE, India and SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2001

Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT), a leading global provider of IT services to international companies, today announced plans to build a second software development facility in Hyderabad, India, which will house 3,000 software professionals in a modern, campus-style setting.

Wipro Technologies and the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) under which the GoAP has allotted land for Wipro Technologies to set up a Software Development Facility near the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Manikonda village, in Hyderabad. Wipro signed the MoU today for 30 acres of land, and the Government will reserve an additional 20 acres for future expansion of Wipro. This agreement will add to Wipro's already significant presence in Hyderabad, which has grown from 50 people in 1994 to over 1,500 employees today.

Sudip Banerjee, Chief Executive, Operations and Staffing, Wipro Technologies, commented: "Wipro Technologies plans to build a world-class software development campus with state-of-the-art facilities for developing high-tech software. Hyderabad is a very 'happening place' as far as the IT scene is concerned, and Wipro has realized tremendous value in terms of human resources from its investments in the existing Hyderabad facility. It is this background that has given us the courage to strengthen and expand our activities in Hyderabad."

"Availability of talent is an important criterion which determines the location and expansion of a development center today. Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh in general have good engineering colleges. We have been able to attract good, skilled software professionals to our center in Hyderabad," said Devashish Ghosh, Vice President and Head of Hyderabad Development Center, Wipro Technologies. "In addition to its deep pool of talent, Hyderabad also offers excellent infrastructure for setting up a software development center."

The operations at the Hyderabad Development Center (HDC) focus on leading edge technologies to deliver world-class services to Wipro's global clients. About 65 projects are being executed here in both enterprise and technology businesses, cutting across a wide range of technologies including Telecom, Networking and Internet Protocols, Embedded Systems, Wireless Platforms and Protocols, Real Time Systems; Web Based Application Development, E Commerce and Mobile Commerce Applications.

Wipro's clients at Hyderabad include Nokia, Ericsson, Microsoft, Inso, Deploy, Thames Water, Transco, BSI and Tufts, among others. It has a dedicated Japanese learning center, which trains software professionals in Japanese language, culture and etiquette. Wipro also has software development centers at Bangalore, Chennai, Pune and Gurgaon, and has initiated plans to expand its operations to Navi, Mumbai and Calcutta.

Wipro Technologies is a part of Wipro Limited, a leading India-based provider of IT services globally, headquartered in Bangalore, India. In addition to its New York Stock Exchange listing, Wipro's equity shares trade in India on the Stock Exchange - Mumbai, National Stock Exchange, the Bangalore Stock Exchange, the Delhi Stock Exchange, the Ahmedabad Stock Exchange and the Cochin Stock Exchange.

For more information, please visit our websites at www.wipro.com and www.wiproindia.com.

US SEC forward looking statement and cautionary statements

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward looking statements which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and competition in IT services affecting our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks. Counterproductive acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, withdrawal of fiscal incentives by government, political instability, legal restriction on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property. Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in the company's United States Securities and Exchange Commission findings. These findings are available at www.sec.gov.