IIT Hyderabad is an institute of national importance and joins the elite list of seven premier technology institutes of the country that have been started at different times since 1950. The IITs were started by an Act of the Parliament, the Institutes of Technology Act (1961). Currently, they are administered by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. IIT Hyderabad is dedicated to excellence in research and teaching.

Currently, the Institute is located in its temporary premises in the quiet residential campus of Ordnance Factory Medak (OFMK) at Yeddumailaram (Medak District, Andhra Pradesh), about 40 km from the heart of Hyderabad city. The requisite infrastructure, namely hostels, classrooms, offices, recreation, sports and medical facilities, are all located within the OFMK Estate. The permanent campus will be located on the National Highway 9 at Kandi village (near Sangareddy town, in Medak District, Andhra Pradesh). The 218-hectare land is expected to become operational with its first set of buildings and structures by 2010; the third academic year onwards, students are expected to move to join the permanent campus.