Wipro Limited () is an Indian multinational technology company based in

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. It provides

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

consulting A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

and

business process A business process, business method, or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks performed by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (that serves a particular business g ...

services. It is one of India's Big Six IT services companies. Wipro's services include

cloud computing Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...

computer security Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and computer network, n ...

digital transformation Digital transformation (DT) is the process of adoption and implementation of digital technology by an organization in order to create new or modify existing products, services and operations by the means of translating business processes into a d ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

data analytics Analytics is the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics. It is used for the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data, which also falls under and directly relates to the umbrella term, data sci ...

, and other technologies, present in 167 countries.

History

Early years

The company was incorporated on 29 December 1945 in

Amalner Amalner is a town and a municipal council in Jalgaon district in the state of Maharashtra, India, situated on the bank of the Bori River. Amalner is the birthplace of the Wipro company, which started business by producing vanaspati ghee from s ...

by MH Hasham Premji as Western India Vegetable Products Limited, a manufacturer of

cooking oil Cooking oil (also known as edible oil) is a plant or animal liquid fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. Oil allows higher cooking temperatures than water, making cooking faster and more flavorful, while likewise distributing h ...

s. In 1966, after Hasham Premji's death, his son

Azim Premji Azim Hashim Premji (born 24 July 1945) is an Indian businessman and philanthropist, who was the chairman of Wipro Limited. Premji remains a non-executive member of the board and founder chairman. He is informally known as the Czar of the India ...

took over as

chairperson The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

at age 21. The company changed its name to Wipro Products Limited in 1977, followed by Wipro Limited, a

syllabic abbreviation An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing per ...

of the original name, in 1982.

Shift to IT

In the 1980s, recognizing opportunities in computer hardware and software, the company established subsidiaries Wipro Infotech and Wipro Systems. In 1981, Wipro developed the first Indian

minicomputer A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a type of general-purpose computer mostly developed from the mid-1960s, built significantly smaller and sold at a much lower price than mainframe computers . By 21st century-standards however, a mini is ...

based on the

Intel 8086 The 8086 (also called iAPX 86) is a 16-bit computing, 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel between early 1976 and June 8, 1978, when it was released. The Intel 8088, released July 1, 1979, is a slightly modified chip with an external 8-b ...

chip in an

IISc The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The institute was established in 1909 wi ...

lab. The software division began in 1984 with the development of a

spreadsheet A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in c ...

and

word-processing A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features. Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicated to the function, but current word ...

suite but shifted to offshore software development in 1990. By the mid-1990s, Wipro had become one of India's leading manufacturers of

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

peripheral A peripheral device, or simply peripheral, is an auxiliary hardware device that a computer uses to transfer information externally. A peripheral is a hardware component that is accessible to and controlled by a computer but is not a core compo ...

s, and medical diagnostic equipment. In 1998, the company reported being the second-largest software exporter from India, and gradually increased its focus on the higher-

margin Margin may refer to: Physical or graphical edges *Margin (typography), the white space that surrounds the content of a page * Continental margin, the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust *Leaf ...

software services business which accounted for the vast majority of its profits. During the

dot-com boom The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Intern ...

of the early 2000s, Wipro became the largest company in India by

market capitalization Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...

, reaching a value three times that of the next largest listed company,

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational technology company that offers business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. Founded in 1981 in Pune, the company is headquartered in Bengaluru. On ...

. Consequently, Wipro's majority shareholder Azim Premji was the richest Indian for five consecutive years. In 2004, Wipro became the second listed Indian IT company to report annual revenues exceeding US$1 billion. By 2006, approximately 30% of its total revenue came from product engineering R&D services. In 2007, Wipro introduced a line of

supercomputer A supercomputer is a type of computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instruc ...

s known as Wipro Supernova. In 2011, Wipro, in collaboration with the

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national List of government space agencies, space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), ...

(ISRO), developed India's then-fastest supercomputer, SAGA-220, which was deployed at the

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India's satellite programme. It is located in Thiruvananthapuram, in the India ...

. In 2012, Wipro demerged its non-IT businesses into a new private company named

Wipro Enterprises Wipro Enterprises Private Limited is an Indian multinational corporation primarily operating in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), lighting, hydraulic cylinders, industrial automation, 3D printing, aerospace component manufacturing, an ...

. Prior to this demerger, these businesses—primarily in consumer care, lighting, furniture, hydraulics, water treatment, and medical diagnostics—accounted for about 14% of Wipro's total revenues.

Operations

Wipro operates in over 60 countries and serves clients in industries such as financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and telecommunications. Major services provided by Wipro are: * IT services such as software development, system integration, and IT consulting. * Business process services including customer service, finance and accounting, and human resources. * Consulting involves advising companies on business strategies, technology solutions, and organizational improvements. * Engineering services including product development, research and development, and technical support. * Cloud services such as cloud migration, management, and infrastructure services.

Acquisitions

Listing and shareholding

Wipro's equity shares have been listed on

Bombay Stock Exchange BSE Limited, also known as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), is an Indian stock exchange based in Mumbai. It is the 6th largest stock exchange in the world by total market capitalization, exceeding $5 trillion in May 2024. Established with t ...

since 1946 and the

National Stock Exchange of India National Stock Exchange of India Limited, also known as the National Stock Exchange (NSE), is an Indian stock exchange based in Mumbai. It is the List of stock exchanges, 5th largest stock exchange in the world by total market capitalization, ...

where it is a constituent of the

NIFTY 50 The NIFTY 50 is an Indian stock market index that represents the Capitalization-weighted index#Free-float weighting, float-weighted average of 50 of the largest Indian companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India, National Stock E ...

. The American Depositary Shares of the company are listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

(NYSE) since October 2000. As of March 2024, the promoter group headed by

held a 72.88% stake in the company, while the remaining shares were with public shareholders and an

employee trust An employee trust is a trust for the benefit of employees. The employees that an employee trust benefits are usually defined by reference to employment by a particular company (or group of companies). In addition to employees, the beneficiaries m ...

Employees

As of 31 March 2024, Wipro had 234,054 employees, out of which 36.6% were women. List of CEOs since 1981:

Sponsorships

* Wipro, as a member of the

Electronic City Electronic City is an information technology hub in Bengaluru, India, located in Anekal taluk. Spread over 800 acres (3.2 km²) near Konappana Agrahara and Doddathogur it houses a large number of electronic/IT industrial parks. Electro ...

Industries Association, partly funded the construction of the 9-km

Electronic City Elevated Expressway The Electronic City Elevated Expressway is a long elevated highway from Silk Board junction to Electronic City in Bengaluru, India. The project was part of the BETL (Bengaluru Elevated Tollways Ltd), project as part of the National Highways D ...

in Bangalore which opened in 2010. * Wipro has been the title sponsor of the

San Francisco Marathon The San Francisco Marathon is an annual USATF-certified road running event held in San Francisco, California, that includes a full marathon, two half marathons, an ultramarathon, a 10k, and a 5K. With the exceptions of 1988, 1993, and 2020, th ...

, Chennai Marathon, and

Bengaluru Marathon The Wipro Bengaluru Marathon is an annual marathon running event held in Bangalore, Bengaluru, India. History Crossover era The inaugural marathon was held on as the "Lipton Bangalore International Marathon". Organized by Crossover Con ...

at different times.

Criticism

In February 2023, Wipro faced criticism for reducing the annual salary package of new hires by 50%. This decision affected around 4,000 new hires, leading to backlash from employee unions like NITES, which called the move unfair and lacking transparency. Wipro stated that the revised offer was due to changing business needs and provided an immediate opportunity for candidates to start their careers.

References

External links

{{Authority control Wipro Indian companies established in 1945 Consulting firms established in 1945 Business services companies established in 1945 Conglomerate companies established in 1945 Software companies of India Business process outsourcing companies of India International information technology consulting firms Outsourcing companies Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange NIFTY 50