Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will lay the foundation stone for the prestigious 209 acres campus of "TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH (TIFR)" on October 19 at Gopanpalli besides Gachibowli, Hyderabad.

Government sources said the Prime Minister's Office agreed to the proposal as Singh has special bond with TIFR, a premier autonomous research institute under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India.

It works in areas of basic sciences encompassing most fields in biology, chemistry, theoretical computer science and mathematics.

The new campus, coming up in two phases in an exclusive area on the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) campus, has a projected investment of Rs.2,500 crore spread over a decade. The Hyderabad campus fits its expansion program where it plans to accommodate 200 permanent faculty, 1000 students and 300 post-doctoral researchers. Apart from these, TIFR will have 1,000 technical & non-technical staff by 2020.

TIFR had in their letter two years ago to the then Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had stated that Hyderabad was their preferred choices as it had excellent infrastructure matching its benchmark.