In a significant move to bolster its presence in Eastern India, IT giant Wipro has secured a massive 1.7 lakh square feet of managed office space in Kolkata. The company has taken the workspace on lease from Smartworks Coworking Spaces Ltd to accommodate approximately 3,000 employees, marking a major expansion of its footprint in the city.
A Strategic Expansion in the IT Hub
According to sources in the city's key business district, Salt Lake Sector V, this newly leased workspace will become Wipro's largest operational area in Kolkata, second only to its own owned campus. The Indian multinational, which provides IT, consulting, and business process services, already employs a robust workforce of 21,000 people at its existing Sector V campus. This new lease underscores the company's continued growth trajectory in the region.
The transaction involves office space at two of Smartworks' premium facilities—Victoria Park and Mediasiti—both located within Salt Lake Sector V. This deal is now recognized as the largest flex-office agreement ever signed in Kolkata. Global real estate services firm JLL India acted as the advisory partner for this landmark transaction.
Enterprise Shift Towards Managed Campuses
Commenting on the trend, Neetish Sarda, Founder and Managing Director of Smartworks, highlighted a decisive shift in enterprise strategy. "Large organisations are scaling faster and leaning toward workspace models that offer predictability, depth and seamless expansion," said Sarda, who hails from a veteran jute family in Kolkata. He added that with flexible workspace contributing a growing share of India's office absorption, the focus is on building integrated campuses that support this momentum consistently.
Surekha Bihani, Senior Managing Director (East and Emerging Markets) at JLL, emphasized the maturity of India's flexible workspace market. "This significant leasing transaction in Kolkata represents the growing maturity of India's flexible workspace market, where enterprises are increasingly choosing managed office solutions for their scalability and operational efficiency," Bihani stated.
She further noted that the IT sector's continued confidence in Salt Lake Sector V, combined with the ability to deliver customized, tech-enabled campuses, shows how the managed office model is becoming integral to corporate real estate strategies. This deal reinforces Kolkata's position as an attractive destination for large-scale enterprise operations, supported by strong infrastructure and talent availability.
Designed for Productivity and Scale
The new workspace secured by Wipro is designed to be a holistic, experience-led environment. It will feature:
- Tech-enabled work environments
- Modern collaboration zones and meeting suites
- Recreation areas and wellness facilities
- On-site convenience stores
This setup aims to support productivity, organizational culture, and seamless scaling for Wipro's teams.
The deal is part of a clear trend in the Indian office market, where enterprises are consolidating operations into larger, high-quality campuses. Smartworks' model involves partnering with developers to transform bare-shell spaces into fully-equipped, branded campuses. These campuses come with amenities like cafeterias, gyms, sports zones, crèches, and medical centres.
Smartworks, one of India's largest managed office platforms, currently manages 14 million square feet across 61 centres in 14 cities in India and Singapore. The company's growth is fueled by strong seat retention, long client tenures, and rising demand in the 1,000+ seats category, which now contributes about 35% of its rental revenue. This pattern indicates that enterprises are increasingly viewing the managed campus model as a long-term, scalable solution rather than a temporary arrangement.
This Kolkata deal follows other recent large space sign-ups by companies like Wolters Kluwer and Davies Shared Services in Pune, showcasing Smartworks' steady streak of sizable enterprise engagements. Meanwhile, Wipro's expansion continues with work underway on its second owned campus in New Town, Kolkata, which will have a seating capacity for 10,000 people upon completion.
