IIT Kharagpur will open an advanced research centre near Ruby General Hospital and a science park in Rajarhat.

Damodar Acharya, the director of the country’s oldest IIT, announced on Monday the decision to open the city campuses.

The research centre, likely to be operational in three years, will be named after physicist Mani Bhaumik, an alumnus of the institute who will donate $150 million (Rs 682.5 crore) to set up the hub.

“The centre will cost $300m, of which Bhaumik will donate $150m. He will donate the amount in addition to the 15 acres on which the centre will come up,” said the director.

“The centre is being named after Bhaumik in recognition of his pioneering work on laser technology.... The Mani Bhaumik Advanced Research Centre, Calcutta, IIT Kharagpur, will be of world class standards, focussing on two areas — bio-informatics and energy science.”

Bhaumik, who did his PhD from the IIT, said: “One of the main goals for setting up the centre is to produce Noble prize winners.... It is no less than a dream come true for me.”

The “best faculty” from across the globe will work at the centre to carry out advanced research in areas like cancer and auto-immune diseases, said Bhaumik.

The researchers will be awarded doctorate degrees by the IIT.

Bhaumik had met chief minister Mamata Banerjee at Writers’ Buildings last Thursday to discuss the project.

The director said the IIT was the country’s first institute to open centres with contribution from the alumni. The Vinod Gupta School of Management, set up by another IIT Kharagpur alumnus, is one such example.

The Rajarhat science park, where various companies will set up their research and development wings, will come up on a 10-acre plot owned by the institute. The project cost has been estimated at Rs 350 crore.

“The IIT will generate substantial funds to set up the park. The Centre, too, is likely to bear a part of the expenditure,” Acharya said.

Students graduating from the IIT will be engaged to carry out research for the companies that will set up their wings in the science park, said officials.