Salary offers at IITs yet to pick up

Graduates expect a 10-15 per cent rise compared to last year

While students at the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are uncorking the bubbly with salary offers that have bettered last year’s figures, the scenario at many Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) this year is not all that chirpy.

Salaries for graduating students at some IITs are yet to surpass the 2009 levels — a year when the average offers saw a 30 per cent drop to around Rs 6 lakh on the back of the global recession and hiring freeze by information technology (IT) and engineering companies.

Hopes, however, are still alive at the IITs since the final placements, which started in December 2009, will continue till May this year. A few IITs are hopeful their graduates can even expect a 10-15 per cent rise over last year’s salary offers.

At IIT Bombay, things are at the brightest. Around 1,150 students are up for placements this year. Sources informed that the highest salary at the institute is Rs 40 lakh this year, nearly double of the highest salary secured last year. Around 170 companies have already turned up this year so far, and another 70 are expected.

At IIT Kharagpur, around 135 companies have turned up so far which has recruited 730 students out of a total of 1,300 students who need to be placed this year. S K Srivastava, placements chairperson at IIT Kharagpur said, “The highest salary so far is Rs 22 lakh offered by Barclays to over 10 students.” The average salary on the campus this year is Rs 9 lakh so far, up from Rs 6 lakh last year. Around 190 companies participated in placements for the batch of 2009. The highest salary offered to the batch of 2009 remained the same as 2008 at Rs 22 lakh per annum, while the average salary for students dropped to Rs 6 lakh per annum from Rs 7.44 lakh per annum in 2008.

IIT Roorkee has over 1,000 students to place this year. So far it has seen around 100 companies turning up for placements and 50 more are expected by the end of the placements season. The highest salary offered so far at the campus is Rs 18 lakh by the global oilfield and information services company Schlumberger, informed P K Jain, placements chairperson, IIT Roorkee.

Others like Microsoft and Credit Suisse have offered salaries of close to Rs 10 lakh. The average salaries are around Rs 6 lakh. “Big recruiters are mainly recruiting for domestic operations this year and so there are not much international offers,” Jain added.

At IIT Guwahati, around 600 students would be placed this year, up from 500 last year. So far 65 companies have turned up for placements, more or less same as last year. Saurabh Basu, faculty in-charge, training and placement at IIT Guwahati, said, “IBM has made the highest offer so far at 15 lakh this year. The average salary on campus as of now is Rs 6.5 lakh.” IIT Guwahati started three new departments for 2010 which is why the increase in its number of students from last year.

At IIT Madras, the student placements coordinator informed, “We are contacting more companies this year. So we are likely to have 10-15 start-up companies as recruiters. Last year we had three-four start-up companies for the placements season. Also, this year we have sent out 800 invitations to companies, of which 100 companies have confirmed participation. Last year, we received 180 companies for the placements season, out of 500 invitations.”

Total number of students at IIT Madras this year is around 1,000.

IIT Delhi, on the other hand, has around 150 companies participating in placements so far and the institute expects 100 more. It has around 1,000 students to place this year.

Incidentally, among recruiters, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is reportedly planning to hire 300 students from the IITs and National Institutes of Technology (NITs). The salary on offer will increase around 70 per cent to Rs 10 lakh on the basis of revised pay scales on Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

IITs also expect big recruiters like Larsen & Toubro, Gas Authority of India, Tata Motors, Oracle, JP Morgan and Tata Consultancy Services, who on an average pick 10-15 students, to return to placement season this year, beginning December. The technology companies like IBM, consultants KPMG, McKinsey, BCG and Ersnt &Young, are also expected to be back on hiring this year.

Adobe Systems is reportedly looking to hire nearly 5 graduates from each of the seven IITs, while finance companies Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank have already made some offers.

Meanwhile, most IITs point out that although student intake has doubled over the last few years, the number of companies participating in placements has not seen such a drastic increase. The Ministry of Human Resources (MHRD) figures reveal that 3,031 students from seven IITs were recruited by MNCs through campus selection in 2008. However, the number fell to 1,606 students in 2009.

While 643 students were recruited from IIT Kharagpur, the number plummeted to 44 in 2009. In 2008, 593 students were selected from IIT Bombay but only 381 students were selected by MNCs in 2009. While 633 students from IIT Delhi were recruited by MNCs in 2008, the number came down to 390 in 2009.

This year, however, things are improving for the graduating batch at IITs as they are hopeful of 100 per cent placements in 2010, even if there is not a huge increase in salaries.