Azim Premji to be part of Karnataka government's zero investment farming'

Bengaluru: After IT giant Infosys has decided to join hands with the government in the Namma Metro project, Wipro chairman Azim Premji has shown interest in working with government in its environmental protection and agricultural promotion activities.

Mr Premji called on Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday and said that he wanted to be part of the Zero Investment Farming concept that the government is promoting and has earmarked Rs 50 crore in the budget.

Expressing his concern over increasing air pollution in the city, Mr Premji said that he would like to join hands with the government to control pollution. He requested the chief minister to nominate an officer to coordinate between his company and the government.

"Wipro, under its corporate social responsibility initiative, has been working in the agriculture sector at Andhra Pradesh. Similarly, the company is interested in working with the Karnataka government too, especially in promoting zero investment farming concept. The company also wants to continue its work in the education sector," he said.

After the meeting, Mr Kumaraswamy said that Mr Premji drew his attention to the road problem in Sarjapur. "A 7 km stretch of the road is yet to be completed and officials have been instructed to take it up on a war footing,'' he said.