Bangalore, India - March 10, 2011: 

Wipro Infotech, the India, Middle East and Africa, IT Business Unit of Wipro Ltd and a leading provider of IT and business transformation services, today announced it has signed a 5 year strategic contract to drive Canara Bank's Regional Rural Bank (RRB) initiative. The contract is to provide a state-of-the-art, technology-driven, core banking solution for three of Canara Bank's sponsored Regional Rural Banks - Pragathi Gramin Bank, Karnataka, South Malabar Gramin Bank, Kerala, and Shreya Gramin, Uttar Pradesh.

The engagement is of vital importance to Canara Bank to achieve its objective of financial inclusion and bringing low cost and efficient banking services to the rural masses. The centralized Core Banking Solution is not only expected to facilitate efficient internal operations for the three RRBs but also increase its competitive edge in its ability to offer innovative products and services at optimum costs.

The Core Banking project aims to integrate around 900 branches and offices in a phased manner. This would include Branches, Extension Counters, Service Units, Head Offices, Regional Offices, Training centers, other back offices, Data Centre, Disaster Recovery Centre, Project Office which would also operate as the Data Centre Monitoring Unit (DCMU), and Network Operations Centre (NOC).

Wipro, with its strong practices in governance, process excellence and integrated service delivery, will deliver business-IT alignment by deploying and implementing the critical Core Banking Solution and the identified delivery channels, seamlessly. Wipro will also setup a 24-hour centralized Helpdesk facility for the project covering applications, Data Center, networks, security and end user systems. 

This partnership is a big step towards technology enablement and process transformation of RRBs in offering efficient banking services to the rural masses, and thereby enlarge the clientele base to drive financial inclusion.

The Chairmen of all three RRBs said, "The mission of RRBs is to transform into a Bank with sound financials, committed to overall economic development of rural areas with care, competence and compassion towards its customers. Coupled with Wipro's technological expertise, we are confident of achieving this mission including expanding our client base to make it the most preferred Banking outlet in rural India."

Wipro will be implementing Finacle Core Banking Solution along with other standard products such as ALM, AML, Mobile Banking, EMS etc. With this, RRBs of Canara Bank will be in compliance with statutory and Regulatory requirements including MIS.

Anand Sankaran, Senior Vice President and Business Head, India, Middle East and Africa, Wipro, said, "We are delighted to be part of this prestigious project aimed at the upliftment of rural India. We plan to deliver extremely robust, scalable and flexible Centralised Core banking Solution aligned with the corporate mission, strategy and business plan of the Regional Rural Banks."

The contract is the outcome of a competitive bidding process which attracted several global and Indian IT majors. In a keenly contested deal, Wipro emerged as the preferred partner for the CBS implementation deal spanning 5 years.

Earlier, Wipro signed a 5 year Total Outsourcing Contract with Central Bank of India for its 7 RRBs and a 7 year Total Outsourcing contract with 5 RRBs sponsored by UCO Bank, a leading Public Sector Bank, for implementing Core Banking Solution (CBS). The contract with Canara Bank sponsored RRBs is the third in the series of wins for Wipro, related to driving financial inclusion through Regional Rural Banks.

About Canara Bank and Regional Rural Banks:

Canara Bank is one of the largest public sector Banks in India with over 100 years of Banking experience. As of March 2010, Canara Bank has achieved a total business of Rs. 4,00,000 Crore and a net profit of Rs. 3021 Crore with 3046 branches. 
Canara Bank has three sponsored RRBs distributed in three states, viz.  1) Pragathi Gramin Bank in Karnataka, 2) South Malabar Gramin Bank in Kerala and 3) Shreyas Gramin Bank in Uttar Pradesh, with an aggregate number of 799 branches. The RRBs have embarked upon a proactive IT initiative to deploy a Core Banking solution in its three sponsored RRBs.

Based upon the direction of the report of the Working Group on Technology Upgradation of Regional Rural Banks, the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) of Canara Bank, recognize that Core Banking is vital not only for leveraging internal operations but also for retaining and expanding their position amongst the higher echelons of the Banking system, by enhancing its ability to deliver on its core competencies and ensuring their competitiveness by providing innovative products and services at extremely competitive costs.

About Wipro Infotech

Wipro Infotech, a division of the US $6 billion Wipro Limited, provides enterprise customers with high value Information Technology Products, Software Services, Solutions and Consulting Services in India and the Middle East. Headquartered at Bangalore, Wipro Infotech serves customers in India through a network of 22 offices and 170 service locations across the country. It also has regional offices across the Middle East serving the region.

About Wipro Ltd

Wipro Limited provides comprehensive IT solutions and services, including systems integration, information systems outsourcing, IT enabled services, package implementation, software application development and maintenance, and research and development services to corporations globally. Wipro Limited is the first PCMM Level 5 and SEI CMM Level 5 certified IT Services Company globally. In the Indian market, Wipro is a leader in providing IT solutions and services for the corporate segment in India offering system integration, network integration, software solutions and IT services. In the Asia Pacific and Middle East markets, Wipro provides IT solutions and services for global corporations. Wipro also has profitable presence in niche market segments of consumer products and lighting. Wipro's ADSs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and its equity shares are listed in India on the Stock Exchange - Mumbai, and the National Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit our websites at www.wipro.com, www.wiprocorporate.com, and www.wipro.in.

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