IIT-Bombay students chase dreams, not big money

For many students of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B), money is not everything. Most students have shunned lucrative job offers by corporates and have instead chosen fields of research and education.

One of the most prestigious educational institutes in the country, the IIT-B on Friday declared its placement report for the June 2010-2011 batch. Almost 1,200 students from eight graduate and post-graduate courses participated in the campus placements; 950 got jobs.

The report says there has been a 50% rise in the number of jobs offered and 250 companies (a 33% increase) visited the campus.

The report said there are 286 students from the A-list category with pay packages of Rs8.5 lakh and above per annum. The highest pay package received this year is over Rs25 lakh per annum.

"Though the number of students opting for lucrative engineering jobs is higher, there has been a significant rise in the number of students opting for co-engineering, research-oriented jobs," said professor Ravi Sinha, in-charge of placements at IIT-B. "The number of companies that came for R&D jobs was a lot higher compared to previous years. However, education-related jobs were fewer."

Looking at the trend this year, Sinha told DNA that inviting more companies from R&D, education and public sectors will be one of the institute's prime objective during the next placement season.

The report states 16 R&D organisations offered around 70 positions this year. Several IIT-B students were inclined towards a career in government or public sector organisations. Around 45 students were recruited by these organisations while 37 students, including several with a doctorate, were offered jobs by educational institutions.