In the backdrop of the accelerated pace of digital transformation across sectors fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic, the NITs such as those in Warangal, Jalandhar, Surathkal, Calicut, Rourkela and Nagpur have seen a jump in both the number of recruiters and offers this year.

Many of these institutes have seen a 10-20% increase in average salary compared to the same time last year. Microsoft is the top recruiter offering up to Rs 46.5 lakh per annum across most of the NIT campuses while NIT Calicut has seen the highest offer of Rs 67.6 lakh from startup Traceable AI.

The highest salary may go up as the season has just kicked off, placement officials told ET.

“The placement scenario is definitely better than last year, with no impact of Covid. The number of companies and offers is increasing. Some of the companies also increased their package,” said Sajith V, head, Centre for Training and Placement, NIT Calicut.

More software and consulting companies as well as startups are lining up at these campuses this year, said the placement heads.

“There is a huge demand for top-deck tech talent. NITs have risen to the demands of the industry. Small wonder that there is a beeline for the NITs,” said SV Nathan, chief talent officer, Deloitte India.

The firm is hiring in big numbers from NITs this year, said a couple of placement officials.

Another recruiter in the tech segment, Persistent Systems, is hiring 3,500 people from management and engineering colleges this year compared to about 800 last year. “Our hiring source also includes the brightest minds of India from the IITs, NITs along with a right mix of management grads through the IIMs (A, B and C) to infuse top talent,” said Sameer Bendre, chief people officer, Persistent Systems.

Average salary at NIT Warangal is up to Rs 20 lakh per annum from Rs 18 lakh per annum until October last year. So far, Microsoft has handed out the highest salary offer. The campus has seen more than 20% increase in recruiters this year compared to last year’s 190.

“We expect the highest salary to go up as we have more marquee recruiters lined up,” said Kiran Kumar K, head, Centre for Career Planning and Development, NIT Warangal.

At NITK Surathkal, where placements started in the last week of August, nearly half the batch of 785 sitting for placements has received offers.

The highest salary here too is by Microsoft and the average salary is Rs 21.4 lakh per annum this year. The recruiters visiting NITK Surathkal this year include Microsoft, Goldman Sachs and Qualcomm.

Of the 680 undergraduate engineering students at Dr BR Ambedkar NIT Jalandhar, almost half have received job offers, said its professor in-charge of centre of training and placement, S Ghosh.

The IT and consulting sectors are doing very well and the highest number of students have been placed at Deloitte, Paytm and Oracle, he said.

At Visvesvaraya NIT Nagpur, 480 offers have been received as of September-end, with the highest salary of Rs 34.25 lakh per annum by DE Shaw India, said its placement executive, Harshad Panse. The average salary is Rs 11.14 lakh per annum, with Oracle, Deloitte, JP Morgan, John Deere, Reliance Jio Platforms, Wipro and Capgemini ranking among the top recruiters.

Placements were hit last year at VNIT Nagpur, just as at other NITs, and the number of companies had fallen to 110. “This year, there is visible recovery in the hiring scenario, with IT giants and MNCs rushing with huge requirements,” said Panse. More than 60 new recruiters have lined up this placement season, he said.

The highest salary at NIT Rourkela is Rs 46.08 lakh per annum this year compared to Rs 45 lakh per annum last year, said its head of training & placement centre, Umesh C Pati. The average salary offered till now is Rs 21 lakh per annum at Rourkela. “The placement scene is promising this year and show huge improvement compared to the last year. Covid’s impact is minimal till this point of ongoing placement drive,” said Pati.