At the end of phase I of recruitments held between February 21 and 24, only 49 companies visited the campus. They made a total of 207 offers, including multiple offers. The actual placement is thus well below 200 in a batch of 265 students.

Last year, 107 companies had come calling at the premier B-school.

Officials involved in the placement process accepted that the phase II of the placement process would be no better with only 30 companies expected to turn up.

Last year, over 240 offers were made to a batch of 290 students before the final placement process started. Of these, 90 were pre placement offers (PPOs). This year so far, there have been only 56 PPOs. While 45 firms made 153 lateral placement offers last year, only 25 companies have come forward for the same this year.

The recession has also displaced foreign investment banks from its prestigious slot called “Slot Zero” with marketing giants like Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble along with ITC and Nokia becoming preferred companies.

It, however,remains to be seen whether the average pay package shoots up or not. Each year sees an increase of 18 -20 per cent in the packet over the previous year.