Wipro has announced plans to expand its operations in Australia and bid for lucrative government deals.

According to Rajat Mathur of Wipro, a recent review removed restrictions on awarding sensitive federal contracts to multinational companies. "Except for defence, all the other government [branches] have opened up for outsourcing," Mathur told Australian IT.

Wipro currently employs approximately 350 workers in Australia. Although the firm expects a slight slowdown due to the global economic recession, plans are on track to increase staff numbers to "high double-digits".

Indeed, the company recently clinched a deal with Australia's Origin Energy for the outsourcing of its application development and the implemention of SAP ISU utilities billing. Wipro also expects to build two new training centres in Melbourne and Adelaide.

While Wipro hopes to rapidly increase its presence in Australia, it has temporarily delayed the opening of a new US development centre.

"The US accounts for almost 76 per cent of India's total IT exports, but with the slowdown in the US economy, it is very important that we look at alternatives to diversify the basket," explained Sunil Vachani, vice-chairman of the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) of India.

Wipro America CFO Sridhar Ramasubbu claimed that plans for Atlanta had been put on hold and not cancelled. "We are not shying away from what we plan to do in Atlanta, but it is taking more time than expected given this scenario," explained Ramasubbu.

Wipro maintains seven development centres throughout the United States. Approximately 8,500 of the company's 97,552 employees operate in America, including those working onsite at customer locations. X

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