The capital on Saturday received a shot in the arm in its efforts to match the IT hubs of Bangalore and Hyderabad with the inauguration of the city's first Information Technology Park designed for software development and computer based services.

Opening the park, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the IT hub was the need of the hour as the capital was behind other Indian cities in IT development.

"We are far behind all other cities of India which had made great leaps forward in IT development. So we thought of giving this project a push forward. The first block was completed in just 16 months and now we are looking for the completion of the second phase," she said.

Dikshit said both the Centre and Delhi governments will work together to make the capital a world-class city.

"The Commonwealth games will become a benchmark to make Delhi develop faster," she noted.

Spread over six hectares, the IT park will be located at Shastri Park in the East Delhi. The park will have three large buildings each with a floor space of 30,000 sq km.

The park is built with state-of-the-art technology, including high-end communication facilities, international quality business space and will provide an opportunity to prominent IT houses to operate from the heart of the capital.

Constructed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the newly inaugurated block will be managed by L&T Info City, who owns the 'cyber towers' in the Hitec City, Hyderabad.