Hyderabad, Jan 5 (IANS) The Andhra Pradesh government Monday decided to allot 210 acres of land here for the second campus of the Mumbai-based premier scientific research institute Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR).The state cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, decided to earmark the land for the TIFR campus in the Hyderabad central university.

Minister for Information and Public Relations Anam Ramnarayan Reddy told reporters that the TIFR planned to invest Rs.25 billion in the proposed campus over a period of 12 to 15 years.

The second campus would be set up in two phases, phase I (2008 to 2014) and phase II (2014 to 2020). The foundation stone for the campus will be laid soon.

TIFR director Mustansir Barma recently wrote a letter to the chief minister about the proposal for the second campus to commemorate the birth centenary year of TIFR founder and scientist Homi J. Bhabha, which commenced Oct 31.

TIFR, established in 1945, began its research in areas of cosmic rays and high-energy physics, theoretical physics and mathematics and extended the scope to include fields like nuclear physics, nuclear and electron magnetism, computer science, geophysics, molecular biology, radio astronomy and science education.

Barma wrote that the institute was poised for greater growth but the present campus lacked the space. He said Hyderabad met the required benchmarks and was their preferred choice for the second campus.

Hyderabad Central University vice-chancellor Syed E. Hasnain has already welcomed the proposal and hoped this would go a long way in making the university a world-class research hub.