IITs are ditching startups, preferring PSUs during campus placements this year

This is purely a case of ‘once bitten, twice shy’. Learning from last year’s fiasco, India’s top engineering schools now prefer PSUs during campus placements than startups.

As many startups deferred joining dates and some even cancelled the joining leaving students high and dry last year, engineering colleges this year are taking no chance.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are preferring Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) early placement slots this year, even Day 1.

As per reports, the IITs are also trying to get in touch with ministry of human resource development to ask Maharatna and Navratna companies, such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, NMDC and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, to participate in campus placement this year.

"Until last year, we could not bring in PSUs and also many students were opting for startups. Our experience with the startups was not all good last year. This year, we want to bring in PSUs in the first week itself so that students get a chance to opt for stable jobs rather than pick up lucrative offers in startups," Debasis Deb, chairman of the career development centre at IIT Kharagpur, told ET.

Last year, Flipkart’s fiasco and mismanagement by other companies like Peppertap, Zomato, Roadrunnr and Stayzilla resulted in massive disappointment.

The All-IITs Placement Committee recently blacklisted 30 companies, including startups, which went back on job offers.

ET reported the IITs at Kharagpur, Roorkee, Bombay and Guwahati plan to offer PSUs Day 1.

Kaustubha Mohanty of IIT Guwahati told ET, “We are leaving no stone unturned this year in inviting the PSUs. We are requesting them to come in the first week of December."

Talking about salaries, even though PSUs will not offer stock options to candidates, the annual salaries offered will be of nearly Rs 10 lakh, about one-third of what is generally offered by Day 1 companies.

In boom years, Day 1 firms have even offered upwards of Rs 40-50 lakh for top candidates.

Anishya Madan, industrial liaison officer at IIT Delhi's training and placement cell, told ET, “It is not about the salaries alone, it is also about stability. We want students to get enough choice, especially in terms of working with core companies. With the ban lifted on PSUs coming to IITs, we are trying our best to give them a healthy mix from Day 1 itself.”

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