Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Sunday that the government aimed to develop the State into the biggest Information Technology hub in the world.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the Integrated Startup Complex and Maker Village at the Kerala Technology Innovation Zone at Kalamassery.

The start-up complex is spread over 1,80,000 sq ft of built-up area and can accommodate more than 500 firms. The Chief Minister said Kerala’s IT exports should go up, and that more investments were needed. Physical and social infrastructure for investments will be built by the government, he added.

The government also plans to raise the total IT space to 2.30-crore sq ft area from the current 1.30-crore sq ft. The State has been able to build 30 lakh sq ft area, he said and pointed out that the project at Kalamassery was expected to create 2.5 lakh jobs. Interestingly, the Kalamassery facility will also be Asia’s biggest start-up hub. There are nearly 100 start-ups in the zone, and they are managing with limited facilities. The companies had applied for more than 30 patents last year, Mr. Vijayan said.

Health Minister K.K. Shylaja inaugurated the Biomedical Research and Innovation Centre, which will operate in collaboration with the Cochin Cancer Research Centre.