Days after Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah wrote to Wipro founder and chairman Azim Premji, seeking support from the company to ease traffic congestion on Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road (ORR) corridor by allowing public vehicular movement through its Sarjapur campus, the company has pushed back.
While Wipro, in an official statement, said it remains committed to partnering with the state government, it emphasised that Bengaluru’s mobility challenges demand a more comprehensive approach.
“The complexity of Bengaluru’s traffic problem, stemming from multiple factors, suggests that there is unlikely to be a single point solution to resolve it,” the company said.
“We believe the most effective path forward is to commission a comprehensive, scientific study led by an entity with world-class expertise in urban transport management. Such an exercise would allow us to develop a holistic roadmap of effective solutions that are implementable in the short, medium and long term.”
Wipro added that it would participate in and support such a study to demonstrate its commitment to finding solutions. In a letter addressed to Siddaramaiah, Premji committed “to underwrite a significant portion of the cost for this expert study”.
Responding to the specific request on allowing public vehicular movement through the company’s Sarjapur campus, Premji said that the company “apprehends significant legal, governance and statutory challenges since it is an exclusive private property owned by a listed company, not intended for public thoroughfare”.
He suggested that public vehicular movement through private property would not be an effective long-term solution.
“That apart, it will also be appreciated that our Sarjapur campus is a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) providing services to global customers, our contractual conditions mandate stringent, non-negotiable access control norms for governance and compliance,” Premji added in the letter..
Reassuring partnership with the Karnataka government to find a lasting solution for Bengaluru’s mobility challenges, Premji said a collaborative, data-driven approach will yield the most impactful results for the city.
Siddaramaiah, in a letter dated September 19, had proposed limited vehicular access through the Wipro campus, subject to consent and strict security measures, as a way to ease congestion. Preliminary assessments cited in his letter suggest such a move could cut traffic along the stretch by nearly 30% during peak hours.
