Reuters Summit-UPDATE 1-Wipro sees sustaining oper margins

(For other news from the Reuters India Investment Summit, click here)

* Sees sustaining operating margins

* Says deal pipeline looks good

By Sayantani Ghosh and Anurag Kotoky

BANGALORE, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Wipro Ltd (WIPR.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) (WIT.N: Quote, Profile, Research), India's third-largest software services exporter, will be able to sustain its operating margins in the near term as the business environment improves, a top executive said.

"We don't expect margins to go down, we don't expect margins to go drastically up," Suresh Vaswani, joint CEO of the company's IT business, said at the Reuters India Investment Summit held in Bangalore.

Wipro's operating margins have risen over the last couple of quarters. Its IT services division posted operating margins of 23.8 percent for the second quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 22.3 percent for the prior quarter.

Analysts say the worst seems to be over for India's $60 billion outsourcing sector, as bigger firms win large deals and pricing pressures ease.

"The pipeline certainly looks better. It has looked better and better over the last couple of quarters," Vaswani said.