BANGALORE: Total Income has increased from Rs 17.15 billion in the half year ended September 30, 2001 to Rs 19.31 billion in the half year ended September 30, 2002. For the half-year, the company has posted a profit of Rs 3.64 billion as compared to Rs 4.30 billion in the corresponding period last fiscal. The company's net profit for the second quarter that ended September 30 touched 2.2 billion, up from Rs 2.16 billion logged in the July-September quarter last year, said a Wipro statement issued here. Wipro's sales rose 21 percent over a year-ago period to 10.6 billion because its overseas clients stepped up outsourcing during the quarter to cut costs, the statement added. "A challenging global business environment has made India-based offshore initiatives a key priority for global corporations," said Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro Ltd. "Wipro is well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity with its wide range of offshore services for enterprise clients and its depth of research and development skills for the technology clients," he added. The company added 30 new clients in the quarter ended September 30, 2002, of which seven customers are represented on the Fortune 1000 companies list. New customers added in current fiscal year contributed 6 percent of total revenue for the July-September quarter, the statement said, adding it increased its staff strength by 753 in the quarter over last year's three-month period. Projecting a positive business outlook, Premji said: "We should see the momentum in volume growth of the last two quarters continue."