More takers for IIT’S deferred placements scheme this year

MUMBAI: Even as hefty preplacement offers from major companies such as Samsung and Facebook have begun rolling into the IIT Bombay campus, the institute has seen a rise in the number of students choosing to opt out of the December placement drive, and instead focus on their entrepreneurial dreams.

While close to 200 students stayed away from the placement drive last year, only one had chosen to do so to pursue his own start-up. However, this year, as many as 13 students have decided to make use of the ‘deferred placements’ plan offered by the institute. Introduced in 2012, the scheme aims to encourage students looking to work on their own start-up idea by safeguarding them against the risk of having to forgo campus placements.

According to the initiative, students interested in pursuing an entrepreneurial career are given an option to defer their placements by two years. “Many students have shown interest in being incubated by Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), which is run in collaboration with the institute,” said Avijit Chaterjee, professor in charge of placements.

Aviral Chandra, a final year student of Chemical Engineering was one of the first students to sign up for the deferred place ment. Chandra is working towards his project on artificial intelligence.

Others students, confident of their ventures taking off, are not opting for deferred placements and letting go of campus recruit ment opportunities, say profes sors. “The many success stories of IIT start-ups have prompted many to let go of traditional job prospects and venture into start ups,” said K Narsimhan, faculty member at the institute.