CHENNAI: In what was seen as an encouraging sign, 880 students were picked up by 295 companies in the first session of placements at IIT-Madras which ended on Thursday.
Of these, 114 students were picked up by 65 start-ups, including Ola Cabs, Flipkart and online furniture retailer Urban Ladder, for the first time. Ola picked up the second highest number of students (29), only seven less than than IT giant Cognizant Technology Solutions. The online taxi service provider has recruited for three different profiles offering a salary of `10-20 lakh, said Babu Viswanathan, advisor, training & placement cell.
The highest domestic salary of ` 34 lakh was bagged by two students from the mechanical and aerospace departments, while the fattest foreign pay package was USD 1.295 lakh, bagged by three students from the computer science department.
Compared to 263 companies last year, the first session of this year’s placement drive has witnessed an increase of 32 employers, official statistics showed. The total number of students placed across all sessions last year was only 25 more than those in this year’s first session. A key reason for this was attributed to the change in the planning schedule for the placement drive this year, Viswanathan said.
There has been a 10-12 percent increase in the salaries offered, even in core companies. Companies like GE, Rolls Royce, Honeywell, TVS and Robert Bosch are among those who have offered more than 10 jobs this year.
“There has also been an increased preference for jobs in the Research and Development (R&D) sector with 13 per cent opting for offers in various core companies,” Viswanathan said.
The institute has begun compiling a gender-wise placement record from this year. Of the 880 placed, 16 per cent have been girls. “Of the five who have received highest packages, one is a girl,” Viswanathan said. Totally, 1,360 students had registered for placements of which 14.5 per cent were girls.
Offers in the Information Technology have remained constant with last year’s figures with regulars like Cognizant, TCS and Infosys snapping up students.
While no PSU has arrived for recruitments, DRDO would be conducting their test on January 4, Viswanathan said.
Program-wise, MBA students had the highest percentage of placement (92), followed by dual degree (84) and B Tech (76).