The Hindu Business Line : Wipro sees positive spin-off from UK client's move

WIPRO Technologies is likely to benefit in the medium to long-term from the National Grid Transco's recent move to sell its regional gas distribution networks in the UK, a top company official has said.

Wipro expects to sign up one of the three new buyers of National Grid Transco's gas distribution business over the next six months, said the company's Vice-President for Energy and Utilities Practice, Mr Rohit Kumar.

The British power and gas system operator, one of the top customers of Wipro, sold half of its natural gas distribution networks for £5.8 billion in three deals recently.

The new owners of these networks have to think about their IT strategies and this provides Wipro with opportunities to explore possible engagements with them in the near term, Mr Kumar said. "IBM, Accenture are already eyeing these new buyers for new business", he said.

Wipro's previous experience with Transco in the current business is likely to help it pip the others to it.

Moreover, since National Grid Transco expects to invest part of the sales proceeds in beefing its US operations, the incremental investment is likely to provide Wipro with additional opportunity to expand its business with this long-standing client.

Wipro, Mr Kumar said, considers energy business as a key growth area compared to the utilities sector as it sees a huge potential there. The IT budgets of companies operating in the energy sector, especially in the oil and gas segment, are relatively huge running into billions of dollars when compared to that of the entities in the utilities space, which run into few hundred millions.

Comparing the energy sector with the financial services vertical in terms of IT spending, Mr Kumar said the oil and gas companies have started opening up as far as IT spend is concerned.

Wipro, which has been working with three clients including companies like Shell in the oil and gas sector, expects a larger part of its business to come from the sector over the next few quarters. The company added a new client in North America in the utilities space recently.

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