MELBOURNE: India's IT major Wipro Ltd is all set to expand its presence in Australia's Victoria state by establishing a 1.5 million dollar state-of-the-art Cyber Defence Centre.

The new centre in South Melbourne will offer protection from cyber-attacks to the organisations and will generate 100 new tech jobs for locals.

"Melbourne is Australia's leading tech city and we welcome this reinvestment by Wipro – one of India's top tech companies," Minister for Economic Development Tim Pallas said on Wednesday.

"Setting up the Asia Pacific Defence Centre will strengthen Victoria's capability in cyber security and draw on the local expertise to help Wipro protect Australian organisations from cyber related incidents," Pallas said.

According to Wipro Senior Vice President Raja Ukil, "The launch of the centre in Melbourne showcases Wipro's commitment to leverage local talent and specialised expertise to cater to the cyber security needs of the region."

The new 1.5 million (Australian) dollar centre will also offer internship opportunities for the university graduates pursuing a career in cyber security in the country.

It will also help the company service its clients across a range of sectors, including financial services, telecommunications, energy and utilities, as well as Government organisations.

The move has been described as another step to further deepen the investment relationship between India and Victoria as per the state government's 10-year 'India Strategy – our Shared Future'.

The IT major already has a partnership with the Melbourne-based Swineburne University and runs a Wipro-Swinburne Innovation Centre for translational research in the areas of health and smart cities.