National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC) recorded its highest salary for placement this year. Amazon.com recruited two of its computer science students offering an annual pay of Rs.16 lakh. “This is the highest for a student to get in the history of NITC,” said Prof. T.K. Suresh Babu, Head of the Department of Training and Placement, NITC.
In 2008-2009, the highest salary bagged by an NITC student was Rs.12 lakh. In 2007-08, it was Rs.11.5 lakh. It was Rs.9 lakh in 2006-07, Rs.6 lakh in 2005-06 and 2004-05. While computer science students bagged an average annual pay of Rs. 6.1 lakh in the current year, the electrical students got Rs.6.6 lakh, mechanical students Rs.5.8 lakh, chemical engineering student Rs.5.95 lakh, production engineering students Rs.4.4 lakh, civil engineering students Rs.4.1 lakh and electronics students Rs.4.5 lakh. More than 90 per cent of the computer science students at NITC have already been placed this year. This shows that the demand in IT core sector is steady and high.
Interestingly, high rank students have been preferring electronics and communication at NITC. But higher salary is taken by the students of computer science. One reason for this backwardness of the electronics and communication students is that the semiconductor industry is yet to pick up in the country. “It is expected to pick up in another six to eight months,” said Prof. Babu.
This paradox is apparent in all other NITs as well. The highest pay taken by an electronics and communication student may be Rs. 8 to 9 lakh a year. But a computer science student may take an annual pay up to Rs.20 lakh.
“This is because of a notion among a large section of students that computer science stream may be affected by market fluctuations. It may be this perception that prompt students to prefer electronics and communication to computer science,” said Prof. Babu.
