Wipro works across a wide range of industries, each at a different stage in its sustainability journey. Which sectors do you see as having the greatest need for digital transformation in support of the green transition?
We are an IT services organization serving clients across major geographies — primarily North America, followed by Europe. Our clients span energy and utilities, banking, finance, securities and insurance, retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and pharma. In terms of potential to contribute to the green transition, the energy and utilities sector has the biggest role to play for the simple reason that they are the primary producer of the world’s carbon footprint.
In the transition leading up to 2050, as per the Paris Agreement, they have an outsized role to play. Construction and mining, as well as industries like steel and cement, are inherently carbon-intensive due to the nature of their processes, which consume significant amounts of energy in the form of electricity and heat. It follows logically, therefore, that these heavy industries will have to play a disproportionate role in the transition. We offer digital solutions across industry sectors that address the enterprise ecosystem end-to-end.
The shift to green energy brings complex challenges, from managing energy storage to adopting emerging technologies at scale. In your view, why are the next five years so critical in shaping long-term progress?
Depending on the size of the company and its climate maturity, challenges range from something as basic as establishing a greenhouse gas inventory to deeper innovations that can make a real difference. That includes things like green hydrogen and battery technology, which are key to enabling electric mobility. Battery storage at scale is also critical in the transition path to integrating renewable energy into the existing infrastructure due to the intermittency of sources like solar and wind power. Managing that intermittency as the adoption of renewables expands is a major challenge, and we’re watching this space closely on developments in battery technology.
While the problem is multi-layered, the two biggest pillars of transition are pivoted on how we produce and consume energy, and how we manage transportation and mobility. The last 10 to 15 years have seen surprising progress in solar and wind energy production, with rapid scale-up and adoption. However, as global economies—especially in the Global South—grow, energy demand is outpacing supply. The bottleneck, as we speak, is in battery storage, which converts the surplus supply of daytime solar power to round-the-clock availability. We’re still not there in terms of affordability, energy density, and space efficiency.
Progress on clean energy and electric mobility varies widely across regions, shaped by policy and market dynamics. Where do you see the biggest disparities?
India has done well in renewable energy, with a national target of 500 gigawatts by the end of the decade. China has played a major role over the last decade in bringing down prices through its very large-scale production capacities in solar and wind power infrastructure. They're also now leading in electric mobility. Europe seems to be ahead in the adoption of electric mobility, while in India, there is considerable headway in the installation of new renewable energy capacity. While there is promising progress in the adoption of electric vehicles, the price gap—still 15–25% over conventional vehicles—remains the barrier and bridging it is what will determine the future trajectory
There’s a lot of regulation coming in, especially on sustainability reporting. This is particularly true for India, Europe with CSRD, and with the ISSB framework being adopted in many other countries, e.g. Japan. Regulation nudges and pushes companies to measure, track, and implement better systems. Since these are public reports, they invite scrutiny—from analysts, media, consumers and citizens-at-large—that’s a good thing as companies have to act and show improvements year-on-year….and not just report. That leads to a cascading multiplier effect across supply chains. In India, for example, the top 1,000 companies by market cap must disclose detailed sustainability actions.
Reducing both operational and value chain emissions is critical for companies pursuing climate goals. What strategies have driven Wipro’s efforts toward its 2030 targets across Scope 1, 2, and 3?
While our Net Zero target year is 2040, our interim targets for 2030 include (i) a 59% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions with 2017 as the baseline year and (ii0 and 55% reduction in Scope 3 with 2020 as the baseline year.
Against these’ve already achieved an 85% reduction for Scope 1 and 2, driven by the twin pivots of energy-efficient buildings and renewable energy. Our Scope 3 reduction is currently at 56%. We are ahead of our 2030 targets on all three Scopes.
As an IT services organization, our energy use is largely in our campus facilities, with air-conditioned cooling accounting for 65–70% of energy use in India. Over the last two decades, we have designed and built nearly 20 buildings that are aligned with LEED or similarly rigorous certification standards.
Our recent campuses are based on global best practice, starting with passive architectural principles – e.g. like a twin-façade building front that lets in light but blocks out heat. Another innovative technique we have adopted is underfloor cooling, wherein the cooling vents are run through the floor and are closer to the workspaces, therefore requiring less energy, which can be less than half of conventional systems. In our latest Bangalore campus, we’ve achieved an Energy Performance Index of 65 kWh/m², compared to a typical global commercial average of greater than 120. From 2010, when we had zero renewable energy use, we've grown to 85% of our total energy footprint being renewable. That, alongside efficient building design, has been key to our 85% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions. There are several other innovative designs and systems we have adopted, e.g. battery-less rotary UPS systems, rainwater harvesting, and other technologies to reduce our environmental impact.
Innovation and collaboration play a central role in tackling emissions, particularly in complex areas like energy storage and Scope 3. Can you share some standout projects or partnerships that reflect Wipro’s approach?
The JFK Airport project stands out. Airports have strong signaling power—they influence passengers, airlines, and the broader public, so helping JFK define its roadmap for carbon footprint reduction has been strategic and rewarding. More broadly, we’re exploring how AI and digital solutions can enhance sustainability. AI comes with its own footprint, but it can also accelerate solutions—like optimizing material selection for better batteries. The challenge is to ensure the solution footprint doesn't outweigh the benefits.
Transform to Net Zero is one of the alliances we’re part of. The World Economic Forum also has similar groups. One universal challenge these groups address is Scope 3 emissions—the carbon footprint in the supply chain. Scope 3 accounts for 85% of our emissions. It’s more challenging because companies can only influence their suppliers, to a certain extent, to adopt a low-carbon strategy. These alliances help by enabling the sharing of best practices; some also develop and provide access to digital platforms that provide sector-specific intelligence on Scope 3 emission reductions. That makes it easier to engage suppliers across industries, from tech to construction.
