India will host the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), the largest congregation of mathematicians from across the globe, for the first time in Hyderabad, beginning on Thursday.

President Pratibha Patil will inaugurate the nine-day event at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Over 3,000 delegates from about 75 countries will attend the ICM being held under the auspices of International Mathematical Union (IMU).

The President will present the Fields Medals, the highest award in Mathematics and considered the equivalent of Nobel Prize, to four mathematicians in recognition of their contribution to the field.

She will also give away the Nevanlinna Prize, the Gauss Prize and the Chern Medal.

The Chern Medal will be presented for the first time this year for lifelong outstanding achievements in maths.

A mathematician of Indian origin, Madhusudan, won the Nevanlinna Prize in 2002.

This year three mathematicians from India are said to be in contention for the Fields Medals.

Another Indian mathematician Radha Charan Gupta, who has been chosen for the Kenneth O May Prize by the International Commission for the History of Mathematics in 2009, will receive the award during the ICM.

The ICM, conducted once every four years, is being held in Asia for the third time after the ones in Japan (Kyoto) in 1990 and China (Beijing) in 2002.

The ICM assumes significance for India as the event this year coincides with the Centenary celebrations of the Indian Mathematical Society and the Silver Jubilee year of Ramanujan Mathematical Society.