Wipro founder and chairman Azim Premji has turned down Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s request to allow public vehicles to pass through the company’s Sarjapur campus to ease traffic congestion in Bengaluru.

In a letter to the chief minister, Premji acknowledged the seriousness of the city’s traffic crisis and welcomed the government’s appeal for corporate participation in addressing mobility issues. However, he clarified that the Sarjapur campus, which functions as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), cannot be opened for public use due to stringent compliance rules and contractual obligations linked to global operations.

Premji explained that permitting external traffic through the SEZ would raise “serious legal, governance, and statutory challenges,” while also breaching strict security and access control requirements mandated for international clients. He added that such a step would not provide a sustainable solution to the larger traffic problems Bengaluru faces.

Instead, Premji proposed a long-term, structured approach. He recommended commissioning a comprehensive, expert-led transport study to develop data-driven strategies for easing congestion, particularly along the Outer Ring Road, a crucial export hub. To support this, Wipro has offered to fund a significant share of the cost of such a study.

Premji appointed senior company executive Reshmi Shankar as Wipro’s representative to work with the government on potential solutions.

Bengaluru’s traffic woes, especially on the Outer Ring Road, remain one of the city’s biggest challenges. The exchange highlights the increasing involvement of private companies in shaping urban mobility strategies for India’s technology capital.