Amid downturn, hefty offers good news for engg students

MUMBAI: The average annual salary on offer during campus recruitment has risen at engineering colleges across the city, with hefty pay packets being discussed at several institutes other than IIT-Bombay.
Students at the city’s Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-B) tend to bag the highest-paying jobs — this year’s highest annual package is reportedly R81 lakh — but placements at other engineering institutes are also on the upswing this year.
At Thadomal Shahani Engineering College in Bandra, the annual average salary offered rose from R3 lakh last year to R4 lakh this year. At the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) in Matunga, it rose from R4.75 lakh to R5.2 lakh. And at Veermata Jijabai Techno-logical Institute (VJTI) in Matunga, from R3.5 lakh to R4.5 lakh.

Placements are still underway at these institutes, so the average package offered is likely to go up further, officials said.
“We are seeing increased competition between companies, which has driven salary packages up,” said Virendra Rathod, head of the placement and training cell at ICT.
Added GT Thampi, principal of Thadomal: “This is unexpected. There has been a turnaround in IT. The recession seems not to have affected placements.”