$185,000 offer takes the cake at IIM-A on day zero

At the end of day zero of the annual placement at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), a pre-placement offer of around $ 1,85,000 is believed have topped the list of 70 odd offers made.

Four students preferred not to join the bandwagon, choosing to start their own business instead. Last year, two students chose to follow this trend while there was only one the year before.

The four students who have decided to become entrepreneurs include Mansur Ahmed, Gaurav Daonkar, Sarath Babu and Sharath Coorg.

"The offer made on day zero has surpassed the highest offer made last year. However, it is not a fresh offer as the same offer was made by the company nearly six months ago during the pre-placement phase," said sources at IIM-A.

In all, 16 companies attended day zero of annual placement. All 16 put together have made 100 odd offers for the batch of 250 students.

Barclays Bank had reportedly made 22 offers, of which 17 are expected to materialise. Among others, Stanchart has pitched for 15 students and hopes to lure at least half of them, said the sources.

US major Bain Capital has made an undisclosed number of offers and received good response. Mckinsey & Co also made about 12 offers on the first day of placement.

The sources said more than half the offers made on the first day of the placement are likely to be accepted by students.

Meanwhile, IIM-A officials denied that any reports were disclosed to the media and the news of the placement offers are not based on official information. The new campus of IIM-A where the placement process is on has been turned into a virtual fortress where no mediapersons are allowed.

Last year, a total of 477 job offers were made to 247 students, with the highest international offer of $1,52,000 made by HSBC, London, while the maximum domestic offer was for Rs 14.5 lakh by GECIS. A lateral offer of Rs 16 lakh per annum has already set a new domestic record, which is also expected to be broken.

As expected, all corporate bigwigs have been given the first chance to recruit students. These include Lehman Brothers, McKinsey and Co, Barclays, Credit Suisse Boston, Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch, USB Warburg Pincus, Bain & Co, ABN Amro Singapore, Barings Bank, Boston Consulting Group, Booz Allen Hamilton, BP Singapore, Citigroup and AT Kearney.