The Economic Times

Edition: New Delhi

Date: 3rd February 2006

 

IIFT Catches up with IIMs in moolah race

 

New Delhi: Move over the IIMs.  It’s the moolah route even for the graduating batch of MBA (international business) of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT).  The institute, which produces global managers in international business, has seen a record high in annual domestic and international salary of Rs 10.6 lakh and $1,00,000, respectively, in its ‘Placement 2006’.

 

“These high salaries translate into an average increase of 10%, at Rs 8.1 lakh, than last year’s placement figures,” Musinsh Bhargava, corporate and placement adviser, IIFT, told ET, Against this, the average salary during 2005 was Rs 7.28 lakh and Rs 5.89 lakh in 2004. Elaborating on the sectoral break-up, he said this year’s selectors were led by FMCG and banking companies, which picked up the maximum number of the candidates.  Bhargava claimed that the salary figures at IIFT this year were at par with what the companies were offering at the IIMs, “which reaffirms the institute’s commitment and capability to churn out world class managers.” The difference between salary offered at IIFT and IIM-A has narrowed over the last two years.

 

In fact, the placement day saw 10% of the students being offered overseas jobs.  The day started with less than the full strength as 20% of the batch had already received pre-placement offers (PPOs) well before the placement week started.  A wide range of companies from sectors like FMCG, banking, consulting IT, pharma, trading and logistics evinced keen interest in the graduates, sectoral majors like Colgate-Palmolive, ITC, Nestle, Godrej, Dabur, ICICI, UTI, SBI, Infosys, Accenture, IBM, HP, AV Birla Group, Bharti and DHL were present. In all, 75 companies visited the campus to recruit around 100 candidates.  Interestingly, such was the demand that only 35 companies could manage to select their candidates.  The remaining 40 had to return as all the students had got through the companies of their choice –Our Bureau.