CHENNAI: The Great Indian Brain Drain may well have ended if initial results of the ongoing placement drive at Indian Institute of Technology-Madras are any indication. Of the 806 students who have found jobs through the IIT-M's placement cell, only 20 have chosen to work abroad; a mere two per cent, compared to the nearly 10 per cent in earlier years.

A total of 1008 students have registered for placement that started in December last year and is now in the final stages. The shift towards Indian jobs is even stronger considering the fact that this year's placement drive has roped in more overseas companies than previous years. Another interesting trend this year is that IT jobs no more command the pre-eminence they used to, with core companies pitching in with cutting-edge remuneration packages.

The highest offer so far has been made by US-based Bloomberg, which has recruited four students at salary levels touching $90,000 annually.

International oilfields giant Schlumberger offered up to Rs. 44 lakh per annum depending on the country of posting. Other overseas firms that recruited include GE, Google, Shell, Microsoft and Haliburton.

"The intensity of placements in the IT sector has definitely come down, with core companies in automobile and manufacturing sectors becoming active in high-end placements, picking up students in disciplines they have been trained in," says Jayakumar, deputy registrar, training and placement. This year, core placements touched 62 per cent while IT placements were only 17 per cent. The former even offered the highest salary levels.

New disciplines

Newly introduced disciplines such as Applied Mechanics and Engineering Physics did exceedingly well, sending up nearly 90 per cent of their students for jobs. Ninety per cent each of Biotechnology and Naval Architecture students and 85 per cent each of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Mechanical Engineering students were also picked up.

Among those who offered placements were top-notch firms such as TVS Motors, Tata Motors, Tata Bluescope, L&T, Dr Reddy's Lab, Siemens and Ashok Leyland.

The reasons the students gave for choosing India jobs were many: competitive salary levels, the "thrill of participating in the new economy," more challenging job environments and stricter visa norms by western countries.

Also, the inclination towards entrepreneurship has also been stronger this year, according to Mr. Jayakumar

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