IITs see Rs 1.3-cr salary offer on Day-1 of placement

EXL Services recruit 34 students from IIT, Kanpur

The placement season has started off with good news for Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) this year, with one IIT recording Rs 1.3 crore salary, while another, IIT, Kanpur, created history by placing 34 students with one company.

"The response from companies has been much better than what we expected. Even salaries offered are better than last year's. This year, the highest salary stands at Rs 1.3 crore per annum from a US-based software major, an increase of 25 per cent," said the placement chairperson from an IIT on condition of anonymity. The IIT refused to divulge more details, saying the company has requested so.

Final placements on IIT campuses began on December 1. First phase of final placements will be held between December 1 and 20 and the second phase will begin on January 6 till April-end, 2014.

"This year, placements have been better than last year in terms of number of participating firms as well as compensation packages. As against 150 firms, this year we anticipate 200 firms coming to the campus. Day one of the placement itself has been spectacular with EXL Services making of the largest hiring by a single firm of 34 offers including US profiles. This is a first in IIT, Kanpur's, history," said Vimal Kumar, chairperson (raining and placements) at IIT, Kanpur.

Held in two slots, the first day of the placement season at IIT, Kanpur, saw over 20 firms participating from varied sectors such as core engineering, computer science, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), consulting and analytics, among others. Among the top firms visiting on Day-One included GE, Google, Credit Suisse, ITC, Mitsubishi, Goldman Sachs, Oracle, Schlumberger, Intel and IBM.

IIT, Kanpur, will roughly see 200 firms participating in the placements process for a batch size of over 1,000 students.

Other firms likely to participate at IIT, Kanpur, placements include Oracle, Mitsubishi, Diamond Consulting, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, among others.

Day-Two of the placement process is expected to see major recruiters such as American Express, Amazon and Citi Group, among others, from sectors including core engineering, consulting, IT, e-commerce and business analytics.

At IIT, Bombay, 1,600 students will sit for placements this year and the institute expects 250-270 companies to participate. "Some US companies have doubled the salaries this year against what was offered last year," said a placement official.

According to IIT-Bombay, Microsoft, Oracle, LinkedIn, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Shell and Samsung have confirmed participation in the campus drive so far.

"While some US companies have taken care of their placement requirements through pre-placement offers, there are other companies like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo which have confirmed participation," said Sudhir Barai, head of training and placement at IIT-Kharagpur.

For IIT-Kharagpur, feedback from recruiters has been very good. "The number of companies participating at IIT-Kharagpur has increased from 180 last year to 220 this year. The feedback from recruiters have been very good and salaries will be higher than last year," said Barai. The batch size at IIT-Kharagpur this year is over 2,000 students.

The IITs also said some companies have dropped out after confirming. "This happens every year as companies take stock of their hiring situation by December. However, salaries offered have been higher," said Kumar.

Other IITs did not respond to an email questionnaire. The placement process on the campuses was on Sunday till late in the evening.