Wipro Limited (Western India Products Limited[1]) is an Indian multinational IT Consulting

and System Integration services company headquartered in Bangalore, India.[3] As of March

2015, the company has 158,217 employees servicing over 900 of the Fortune 1000 corporations
with a presence in 67 countries. On 31 March 2015, its market capitalization was approximately
$ 35 Billion, making it one of India's largest publicly traded companies and seventh largest IT
Services firm in the World.[4]
To focus on core IT Business, it demerged its non-IT businesses into a separate company named
Wipro Enterprises Limited with effect from 31 March 2013.[5] The demerged companies are
consumer care, lighting, healthcare and infrastructure engineering which contributed
approximately 10% of the revenues of Wipro Limited in previous financial year.[6][7]
In Later Part of 2014, Wipro's largest deal in its five decade of history and probably one of the
largest deals in the history of the Information Technology services industry was the 10 year $ 1.2
billion contract with ATCO, a Canadian Energy & Utilities corporation based out of Calgary,
Alberta. The contract was spearheaded by Rishad Premji along with the Canadian Team and
industry vertical teams based in India. [8]

Contents

1 History
o

1.1 Early formative years

1.2 19661992

1.3 19942000

1.4 2001present

2 Wipro Group of Companies

o

2.1 Wipro Ltd.

2.1.1 Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting

2.1.2 Wipro Infrastructure Engineering

2.1.3 Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited

3 Sustainability at Wipro

4 Listing and shareholding

5 Employees

6 Awards and recognitions

7 See also

8 References

9 External links

History
Early formative years

The company was incorporated on 29 December 1945, in Mumbai by Krishna Vasudev Bawta as
'Western India Vegetable Products Limited', later abbreviated to 'Wipro'. It was initially set up as
a manufacturer of vegetable and refined oils in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India under the trade
names of Kisan, Sunflower and Camel.[1][9] The company logo still contains a sunflower to reflect
products of the original business.
In 1966, after Mohamed Premjis death, his son Azim Premji returned home from Stanford
University and took over Wipro as its chairman at the age of 21.[10][11]
During the 1970s and 1980s, the company shifted its focus to new business opportunities in the
IT and computing industry, which was at a nascent stage in India at the time. On 7 June 1977, the
name of the company changed from Western India Vegetable Products Limited, to Wipro
Products Limited.[9]
The year 1980 marked the arrival of Wipro in the IT domain. In 1982, the name was changed
from Wipro Products Limited to Wipro Limited.[12] Meanwhile, Wipro continued to expand in the
consumer products domain with the launch of "Ralak" a tulsi-based family soap and "Wipro
Jasmine", a toilet soap.[9]
19661992

In 1988, Wipro diversified its product line into heavy-duty industrial cylinders and mobile
hydraulic cylinders.[9] A joint venture company with the United States' General Electric in the
name of Wipro GE Medical Systems Pvt. Ltd. was set up in 1989 for the manufacture, sales, and
service of diagnostic and imaging products.[13] Later, in 1991, tipping systems and Eaton
hydraulic products were launched. The Wipro Fluid Power division, in 1992, developed expertise
to offer standard hydraulic cylinders for construction equipment and truck tipping systems. The
market saw the launch of the "Santoor" talcum powder and "Wipro Baby Soft" range of baby
toiletries in 1990.[13]
19942000

In 1995, Wipro set up an overseas design centre, Odyssey 21, for undertaking projects and
product developments in advanced technologies for overseas clients. Wipro Infotech and Wipro
Systems were amalgamated with Wipro in April that year.[13] Five of Wipro's manufacturing and

development facilities secured the ISO 9001 certification during 199495. In 1999, Wipro
acquired Wipro Acer.[14] Wipro became a more profitable, diversified corporation with new
products such as the Wipro SuperGenius personal computers (PCs). In 1999, the product was the
one Indian PC range to obtain US-based National Software Testing Laboratory (NSTL)
certification for the Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance in hardware for all models.[15]
Wipro Limited joined hands with a global telecom major KPN (Royal Dutch telecom) to form a
joint venture company "Wipro Net Limited" to provide internet services in India.[11] The year
2000 was the year Wipro launched solutions for convergent networks targeted at Internet and
telecom solution providers in the names of Wipro OSS Smart and Wipro WAP Smart.[16] In the
same year, Wipro got listed on New York Stock Exchange.[17] In early 2000 Wipro Vice Chairman
Vivek Paul and Azim Premji approached KPMG Consulting Vice Chairman Keyur Patel and
CEO Rand Blazer to form an mega-outsourcing joint venture between the two organizations..
2001present

In February 2002, Wipro became the first software technology and services company in India to
be certified for ISO 14001 certification.[18] Wipro also achieved ISO 9000 certification to become
the first software company to get SEI CMM Level 5 in 2002.[19][20] Wipro Consumer Care and
Lighting Group entered the market of compact fluorescent lamps, with the launch of a range of
CFL, under the brand name of Wipro Smartlite.[21] As the company grew, a study revealed that
Wipro was the fastest wealth creator for 5 years (19972002).[22][23] The same year witnessed the
launch of Wipros own laptops with Intel's Centrino mobile processor.[24] Wipro also entered into
an exclusive agreement with the owners of Chandrika for marketing of their soap in select states
in India.[25][26] It set up a wholly owned subsidiary company viz. Wipro Consumer Care Limited
to manufacture consumer care and lighting products.[27] In 2004 Wipro joined the billion dollar
club.[28] It also partnered with Intel for i-shiksha.[29][30] The year 2006 saw Wipro acquire cMango
Inc., a US-based technology infrastructure Consulting firm[31][32] Enabler, and a Europe-based
retail solutions provider.[33] In 2007, Wipro signed a large deal with Lockheed Martin.[34][35] It also
entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Oki Techno Centre Singapore Pte Ltd (OTCS)[35][36]
and signed an R&D partnership contract with Nokia Siemens Networks in Germany.[37][38] The
year 2008 saw Wipros foray into the clean energy business with Wipro Eco Energy.[39][40] In April
2011, Wipro signed an agreement with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)
for the acquisition of their global oil and gas information technology practice of the commercial
business services business unit.[41][42] The year 2012 saw Wipro make its 17th acquisition in IT
business when it acquired Australian analytics product firm Promax Applications Group (PAG)
for $35 million.[43][44] Wipro is the No. 1 employer of H-1B visa professionals in the United States
in 2012.[45]
In 2012 Wipro Ltd. announced the demerger of its Consumer Care & Lighting (incl Furniture
business), Infrastructure Engineering (Hydraulics & Water business), and Medical Diagnostic
Product & Services business into a separate company to be named Wipro Enterprises Ltd.[46]
Wipro's scheme of arrangement for demerger turned effective from 31 March 2013.[47][48]

Wipro Group of Companies

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Wipro Ltd.

Wipro Limited is a global company provider of comprehensive IT solutions and services,

including Systems Integration, Consulting, Information Systems outsourcing, IT-enabled
services, and R&D services.
It is also a value added reseller of desktops, servers, notebooks, storage products, networking
solutions and packaged software for international brands.[49]
Wipro entered into the technology business in 1981 and has over 140,000 employees and clients
across 54 countries today.[50] IT revenues stood at $7.1 billion for the year ended 31 March 2015,
with a repeat business ratio of over 95%.[51][52]
The business model at Wipro Technologies Ltd is an industry-aligned customer-facing model[53]
[54][55]
which gives greater understanding of customers businesses to build industry specific
solutions.
Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting

Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCLG), a business unit of Wipro Limited operates in the
FMCG segment offering a wide range of consumable commodities. Established in 1945, the first
product to be introduced by WCCLG was vegetable oil, later popularised under the brand name
"Sunflower Vanaspati". It offers personal care products, such as Wipro Baby Soft and Wipro
Safewash, toilet soaps like Santoor and Chandrika as well as international brands like Yardley.[56]
Its portfolio of lighting solutions includes products like Smartlite CFL,[57] LED, emergency lights
and more.[58]
Through its customer-centric products and acquisitions, Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting has
become a fast-growing company in the FMCG segment.[59][60][61]
Wipro Infrastructure Engineering

Wipro Infrastructure Engineering is the hydraulics business division of Wipro Limited and has
been in the business of manufacturing hydraulic cylinders, truck cylinders, and their components
and solutions since 1976. This division delivers hydraulic cylinders to international OEMs and
represents the Kawasaki, Sun Hydraulics[62] and Teijin Seiki range of hydraulic products in India.
[63]
It has entered into partnerships with companies like Kawasaki[64][65] and aerospace giant
EADS.[66] The commitment to quality has made Wipro Infrastructure Engineering the second
largest independent manufacturer of cylinders in the world.[67][68] The company has recently
ventured into water treatment systems and solutions to cater to the needs of various industries.[69]

Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited

Wipro GE Medical Systems Limited is Wipros joint venture with GE Healthcare South Asia. It
is engaged in the research and development of advanced solutions to cater to patient and
customer needs in healthcare. This partnership, which began in 1990,[70] today includes offerings
like gadgets and equipment for diagnostics, healthcare IT solutions and services to help
healthcare professionals combat cancer, heart disease, and other ailments. There is complete
adherence to Six Sigma quality standards in all products.[71][72][73]

Sustainability at Wipro
Wipro's approach to sustainability is structured on enabling itself, as an organisation, and its
customers to be more ecologically sustainable. It is driven by issues considered important to
employees, India's current and future generations, customers, investors, suppliers, and the
community as a whole. Wipro has been ranked 1st in the 2010 Asian Sustainability Rating
(ASRTM) of Indian companies[74] and is a member of the NASDAQ Global Sustainability Index[75]
as well as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.[76]
In November 2012 Guide to Greener Electronics, Greenpeace ranked Wipro first with a score of
7.1/10.[77]

Listing and shareholding

Listing: Wipro's equity shares are listed on Bombay Stock Exchange where it is a constituent of
the BSE SENSEX index,[78] and the National Stock Exchange of India where it is a constituent of
the S&P CNX Nifty.[79] The American Depositary Shares of the company are listed at the NYSE
since October 2000.[80]
Shareholding: On 30 September 2013, 73.51% of the equity shares of the company were owned
by the promoters: Azim Premji, his family members, partnership firms in which he is a partner
and Trusts formed by him/his family. The remaining 26.49% shares are owned by others.
Shareholders (as on 30-September-2013)

Shareholding

Promoter group led by Azim Premji

73.51%

Foreign Institutional Investors (FII)

08.82%

Indian Public

05.31%

Bodies Corporate

03.89%

Mutual Funds/UTI

01.90%

NRI

01.04%

Trusts/Others

00.84%

American Depositary Shares

01.93%

Total

100.0%

Employees
At the end of FY 2014-15, its employee strength was 158,217. Its global workforce consists of
101 nationalities working from 58 countries, 175+ cities across 6 continents. Wipro maintains
gender diversity with more than 30% of its employees being women. Its has more than 30,000
employees outside India, out of which 40% are locals. The average age of a Wipro employee is
30.3 years. During 2014-15, the company incurred 197 billion on employee benefit expenses.
Wipro has introduced TRENDnxt for assessing the skills of employees.

Awards and recognitions

In May 2013, it was ranked 812th on the Forbes Global 2000 list.[81]

Wipro was ranked 2nd in the Newsweek 2012 Global 500 Green companies. [82]

It was recognized by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the Worlds Most

Ethical (WME) Companies in 2013, for the second year in a row. [83][84]

Wipro received the 'NASSCOM Corporate Award for Excellence in Diversity

and Inclusion, 2012', in the category 'Most Effective Implementation of
Practices & Technology for Persons with Disabilities'.[85]

In 2012, it was awarded the highest rating of Stakeholder Value and

Corporate Rating 1 (SVG 1) by ICRA Limited.[86]

It received National award for excellence in Corporate Governance from the

Institute of Company Secretaries of India during the year 2004.[87]

In 2014, Wipro was ranked 52nd among India's most trusted brands
according to the Brand Trust Report, a study conducted by Trust Research
Advisory.[88]

In March 2015, Wipro has been recognized as the worlds most ethical
company by US-based Ethisphere Institute for the fourth consecutive year. [89]

Wipro won Gold Award for Integrated Security Assurance Service (iSAS)
under the Vulnerability Assessment, Remediation and Management category
of the 11th Annual 2015 Info Security PGs Global Excellence Awards. [90]

Wipro won 7 awards, including Best Managed IT Services and Best System
Integrator in the CIO Choice Awards 2015, India.