Azim Premji at the CII meeting on Monday

Infotech major Wipro is planning to create more space at its existing facility in Salt Lake’s Sector V to increase its presence in Calcutta, where the Mamata Banerjee government’s refusal to grant SEZ status to new projects is seen as a hurdle to expansion.

“We are expanding on our current premises. So we are growing here,” chairman Azim Premji said in response to a question on the sidelines of a programme organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in the city on Monday.

Wipro has around 6,500 employees on its rolls in its Sector V facility, which was thrown open in June 2004 after the then Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government backed the company’s demand for SEZ status.

Premji declined to elaborate on the proposed expansion but a source close to the company said the head count could go up by 6,000. “The company is planning to grow vertically within its Sector V campus and detailed plans are being worked out on how to get the necessary clearances,” the source said.

The plan to grow vertically is almost a breakthrough after Mamata’s “no” to SEZ status had cast a shadow on the company’s proposed second campus.

Wipro’s expansion plans in the city have always been linked to another campus — the company has been working on it for a few years — but Premji wouldn’t be drawn into saying why the project hadn’t seen the light of day.

The erstwhile Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government had allotted 50 acres to the Rs 32,000 crore-plus company at New Town in 2009.

An adjacent 50-acre plot was given to Infosys in November 2010.

While Infosys paid the entire land price of Rs 75 crore in October 2011 and took possession of the land from the Trinamul-led government, Wipro has paid only 25 per cent of the price of its plot so far.

“Both these companies have been exploring the option of setting up campuses in Rajarhat but a number of hurdles such as the price of land and lack of infrastructure had come in the way. But the biggest problem cropped up when the present chief minister said she would not endorse any SEZ application,” said an official of the information technology department.

With the government sticking to its stand on SEZ status, Infosys has put its maiden project in Bengal on hold. Wipro has been silent about its next course of action.

“If someone like Premji says that the company is growing in the state, it is indeed good news. But it is also true that while Wipro can take the vertical route to growth to retain SEZ benefits, a new entrant like Infosys cannot do that,” an official said.

Officials of the Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority, the custodians of Sector V, said Wipro was within its rights to grow vertically. “Companies are allowed to maintain their set-up within the floor area ratio of 5:9. Wipro has enough empty space and smaller buildings on its campus, which means it can add several extra floors,” a senior official said.