Bangalore: IT bellwether Wipro Ltd today (May 3, 2004) said it has bagged an IT outsourcing contract from Anglo-Dutch energy major, the Royal Dutch Shell Group.

"We have entered into a master service agreement with Shell. Yes, it was signed recently," a Wipro spokesperson told reporters in Bangalore.

Shell is the world's third-largest public oil company in terms of market capitalisation.

Reports said that the Bangalore-based Wipro and IBM have bagged the long-term outsourcing deal from Shell, estimated to be valued at over USD one billion, one of the largest IT outsourcing deals by Indian software firms.

However, Wipro officials declined to divulge the order value, citing that they are not authorised to comment on any customer specific deals at this stage.

The Shell order has been bagged by the Energy and Utilities division of Wipro Technologies, which has over 1,600 high-end consultants, including domain consultants, which Wipro got from its acquisition of AMS Global Energy Group.

Royal Dutch Shell last week said it planned to save USD 850 million in IT spending by outsourcing IT operations to India and Malaysia.

The group said it intends to cut between 1,900 to 2,800 jobs from the 9,300 strong work force in technology over the next few years.

NYSE-listed USD 1.2 billion Wipro is the second largest IT services firm in India and achieved revenue of USD one billion (Rs 4,358 crore) from IT business during 2003-04.