Kolkata, Apr 24(UNI) Infosys Technologies Ltd., the country's number two software service exporter, will invest Rs. 500 crore for a new development centre in Kolkata generating employment for about 5,000 people.

''We have intention to set up a presence in Kolkata. We are impressed with the efforts of the state government in attracting investments. With its bright talent pool, West Bengal is poised to become an important IT destination,'' Infosys CEO S Gopalakrishnan said after the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the state government in presence of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

IT Minister Debesh Das said the city had become the new hotspot for IT in the East and ''we expect to see more of such investments coming into the state and more jobs being generated.'' Mr.Gopalakrishnan said the company had been allotted 90 acres of land at Rajarhat on the eastern fringe of the city and the work for the project would start as soon as possible. ''There is possibility of about 5,000 people getting job in it over a period of time,'' he said.

Infosys last week said it would add 25,000 employees in the country in the current financial year that began on April 1.

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