As many as 135 companies participated in the 2012 final placements process for the students of the Indian Institute of Management - Kozhikode (IIMK).

Average salary

The average salary (cost to company) offered for a student by the companies saw a marginal rise of seven per cent over last year. The highest annual domestic salary is Rs 32 lakh, while the highest international salary, offered by a Europe-based investment bank, is $1.5 lakh.

The general management and operations sectors recorded a big jump of more than 30 per cent increase in average salary even as consulting and finance sectors saw double-digit growth in the average salary.

The alumni of the institute played a significant role by ensuring participation of many reputed companies in the placements.

According to a statement from IIMK, due to economic slow-down, the companies hired cautiously this year and the average number of offers for a company stood at 2.35.

The 14th batch of IIMK, which underwent the placements, was the largest ever for the institute, comprising 317 students.

The year also witnessed a number of new companies, constituting around 47 per cent, visiting the campus for recruitment.

They included many medium-sized companies offering senior managerial positions to students with relevant work experience.

Also, for the first time, the institute tapped into the growing small and medium enterprises sector, where the companies are looking at expanding their business into new markets.

Apart from major Indian and international companies across finance, marketing, operations, consulting, general management, IT and HR sectors, a slew of public sector undertakings figured in the recruitment drive at IIMK.

They included ONGC, Power Finance Corporation, Power Grid and Bank of India. The Reserve bank of India and UTI also took part in the process.

> vinoottan@thehindu.co