Kolkata, Nov 18 (IANS) The West Bengal capital will have a dedicated information technology (IT) centre spread over two acres by 2011.

'The project when completed will generate direct employment for 2,500 people. This will be a state-of-the-art building,' said state IT Minister Debesh Das while laying the foundation stone for the project here Wednesday.

The proposed building, with 18,890 square metres floor space, will be developed on an an estimated investment of Rs.40 crore and take 15 months to be completed.

At present, there are 500-plus IT companies in the state employing around 90,000 professionals.

The minister said IT exports from the state have gone up three times over the last three years, and stood at Rs.6,500 crore in 2008-09.