CHENGDU - India's third-largest outsourcing company Wipro Ltd said on Wednesday that it will almost triple its payroll in China over the next three to four years, in an effort to increase its presence in the nation's booming IT market.
Girish Paranjpe, joint chief executive officer of Wipro's IT business, said the company, which currently has more than 1,000 employees in China, will boost that number to about 3,000.
"The China market continues to be prosperous so we don't want to miss the opportunities to grow in this market," said Paranjpe, citing a forecast from research firm Gartner Inc that China will replace Japan to become the world's second-largest IT market in 2013.
The company has been cashing in on the fact that more and more international companies are setting up branches in China and there is a "huge wave of manufacturing" happening in the country, which gives outsourcing companies opportunities to provide services, said Suchira Iyer, general manager of Wipro in China.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's software industry reached 1.09 trillion yuan ($164 billion) in revenue over the past ten months, up 38 percent year-on-year, and the total revenues of the industry are expected to exceed 1.2 trillion yuan this year.
As Wipro tries to reduce its reliance on the United States, which accounts for around 50 percent of its total revenue, and Europe, which accounts for 30 percent, the company will make more efforts to explore emerging markets in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Paranjpe said that markets outside the US and Europe may possibly account for 30 percent of the company's business within five years, and among these emerging markets, Asia, with over 100 percent growth over the past three years, is showing huge potential.
The company currently has "a dozen" senior Indian managers in China and plans to double the number next year, part of its efforts to "bring advanced technology" to its Chinese operations, according to Paranjpe.
He added that the company is going to approach more local customers in China, apart from its core customers, which are mainly international companies, but he said that it will take time for the company to overcome difficulties to develop locally.
"Indian companies have advantages over domestic counterparts in taking outsourcing business from US and European companies because of the language, but it may be harder for them to develop local relationships," said Bian Tiecheng, an analyst with Cinda Securities Co Ltd.
Wipro has two service centers in China, one in Shanghai and the other in Chengdu. It said it may expand to more cities if there is "market demand".
