Staggering Rs 80 lakh package offered on Day 1 of IIT-Bombay placements

Samsung stole the limelight on day one of the IIT-Bombay placement with the highest offer of this year of around $150,000 (Rs 80 lakh) per annum to student Sriram Bhargav. After day one of the placement session, companies have made a total of 160 offers in all, a jump from 140 offers made last year, reports The Times of India .

The salaries offered by international biggies like Facebook and Google have seen a growth this year too and are up by 5-10 percent from last year. Besides Samsung, Rocket Fuel offered one of the highest packages to Computer Science and Engineering student Deepankar Reddy, and students Sagar Chordia and Saif Hasan will be going on to join Facebook.

With Rs. 80 lakh packages, sky is the limit for IIT students! (Image credit: Getty Images)

A Hindustan Times report states, “While the institute does not reveal official data about the highest salary offered, the buzz on campus is that this year, a student has received an offer worth $150,000 (Rs 81 lakh approx) while another student had received a pre-placement offer of $100,000 (Rs 54 lakh) along with a $100,000 signing bonus.”

By the end of slot zero, it is expected that around 150 students in each campus of IIT will be hired. The average domestic salaries on day one had remained in the mid Rs. 20 lakh range. Facebook has continued to remain aggressive, hiring students from almost all campuses of IIT. The base salary offered by Facebook is $100,000, a relocation bonus of $20,000 and stock options of $120,000, provided they remain there as employees for two years.

The list of new recruiters this year is impressive and includes social networking giants Twitter and LinkedIn and private equity firm Blackstone. On day one, Twitter has made two offers and LinkedIn has made three. Algorithmic trading firm Jump Trade reportedly did not make any offers.

“Several companies offered international roles including Samsung, Microsoft and Google. Several smaller firms too are offering high compensation packages,” said Avijit Chatterjee, professor-in-charge, placements, IIT Bombay. While 1,300 students have registered for placements in this IIT campus, 200 students opted out. Chatterjee mentions that some students get placed off campus and some go on to study further.

According to a Times of India report, Blue-chip recruiters on day one included Boston Consulting Group, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, IBM, ITC, Google, Sony (Japan), Schlumberger, Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, Oracle, Credit Suisse and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. In the next few days, companies like Michelin, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz Research, Toshiba Corporation, MyLikes, Flipkart, Walmart Global Technology Services, iGate and Procter & Gamble Hygiene will be visiting the campuses. Public sector companies, however, had stayed away from the placements, restrained by a Madras High court case.

Reportedly, last year one student from IIT had earned himself a package of $140,000 (about Rs 72 lakh) per annum, in addition to a relocation bonus and a one-time signing amount.

If the upward trend is anything to go by, it looks like IIT placements seem insulated from economic pressures that have had no effect on them.