Wipro second campus at Rajarhat in West Bengal

It would be located at New Town Rajarhat on the outskirts of the metropolis on 50 acre land provided by the West Bengal government.

"Altogether 6,500 people are employed in the existing campus of Wipro in Salt Lake Sector-V against 1000 it could accommodate.

"The company needs to expand and it has decided to set up a second campus at the earliest," state's IT Minister Debesh Das said.

The second campus, he said, would provide employment to 20,000 people.

Wipro has paid Rs 19 crore or 25 per cent of total cost towards land price to the state government, Das said after Wipro chief Azim Premji met Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

While Premji and Bhattacharjee did not speak, Das briefed reporters about the 30 minute "fruitful" meeting the two had.

Sources in the IT sector indicated that Wipro would invest Rs 1000 crore on its second campus.

To a question, Das said that the state government has provided the best location to IT companies in Rajarhat compared to other states.

The meeting also discussed issues like a project on e-governance in 40 municipalities and those under the health department besides commissioning of a state data centre under IT department at a cost of Rs 23 crore.

The chief minister suggested to Premji the group's participation in vocational and technical education in the state, Das said.

The Azim Premji Foundation has agreed to take up schemes to improve primary education in the state, apart from helping upgrade engineering teachers training centres with various aids.

The state government is providing the benefits of the schemes in 600 secondary schools and it would be provided to 600 more, Das said.

On the occasion, Das was asked whether he feared a threat of agitation by the opposition Trinamool Congress at Rajarhat against developer HIDCO.

"We are constantly in touch with HIDCO and we are confident no company will leave as in Singur. We need cooperation from all", Das said.