Uber, Amazon, Flipkart rush to IIT Delhi for placements; offer as much as Rs 36.6 lakh annually

Leading e-commerce companies Uber, Amazon and Flipkart along with restaurant-listing startup Zomato are among the firms that will be hiring on Day 1 and 2 of the campus recruitment at IIT Delhi this year.

Uber India has the most attractive offer among these internet companies with an annual CTC of Rs 36.6 lakh for a software developer.

While Flipkart's best offer is Rs 26 lakh, Zomato is offering Rs 25 lakh and Amazon India Rs 16 lakh, according to IIT-D students.

After a year of not hiring from Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D), startups Flipkart and Zomato will be back for recruitment at the prestigious institute's campus.

This comes after the IITs blacklisted six startups, including restaurant-listing venture Zomato, last year for making last-minute changes to salary offers and delaying joining dates. However, the ban has now been lifted.

Two years ago, Flipkart also deferred placements. Following the flak it faced, the e-commerce venture founded by IIT-D alumni also did not hire from IITs' 2017 batch.

Students from computer science, mechanical and electrical engineering departments said the companies have registered on the college's placement portal. The site accepts applications from reputed companies that can offer attractive salaries to bag a slot on Day 1 and 2 of IIT-D's first phase of placements that begins on December 1.

While most of them are looking for coding-intensive profiles like software developers or data scientists, assistant product manager positions are also up for grabs at Flipkart.

"While some coding positions are open to us, it is difficult to compete with the IT guys who have been studying machine learning and artificial intelligence for the past four years. Flipkart's assistant product manager (non IT) role with a CTC of Rs 26 lakh per annum is one of the most attractive offers for me so far," said a final-year IIT mechanical engineering student who did not want to be named.

Usually companies vying for slots on Days 1-3 register in advance so that they can be the first to recruit the best students. The companies offer at least one high-paying job in order to grab a spot within the first two days.

A student in the know said more startups have registered with the institute and will soon show on the portal. Companies can register with the college till November 20 for the first phase of placements, the student said.

However, companies coming after the first three days just walk in and conduct interviews. Many startups may also be in that list, students said.

This year startups will reportedly be bunched together on one day called 'Startup Day', which will be slotted way below on the fourth or fifth day of placements. Students may also be told to conduct their own checks before accepting an offer from a startup.

"While there are definitely more companies this time, not a lot of startups have come yet," said a final-year electrical engineering student. He said nearly 100 companies are in the race to hire IIT graduates. "Of the 55-60 companies open for me, there are 7-8 startups," he disclosed.

Most of the startups are looking for software-based profiles. But overall, there is a lot of requirement for analysts and quant researchers as well this time, he added.

Some of the other startups in the list are PayU, FinMechanics, Saavn and GyanDhan.

Students said the campus is abuzz with placement-related activities and the mood is better than it was last year.

The electrical engineering student said 15 entrance tests have been conducted by various companies in the past seven days. "After classes, tests go on till 12 or 1 in the night. Yesterday, I wrote two tests," he said.

While Flipkart has conducted its test, other consumer internet companies have not done so yet, students said.