2024-12-19 05:00:19 :
India’s state-owned enterprises will go head-to-head with private technology companies and consulting giants this year to grab talent from the country’s top engineering schools, reflecting their desire to strengthen and diversify their workforces.
Public sector units (PSUs) usually visit campuses during the second half of the placement period but recruit from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) during the first few days of the season. Recruiting roles across R&D, digital and engineering teams offering competitive salaries $15-21 Lakhs per annum, coupled with retention schemes, career mobility options and the promise of stable employment, Mint Already learned.
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Renewable Energy Development Corporation of India Limited, Oil and Gas Corporation and Aadhaar-issued Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) are some of the earlier PSUs to have entered the campus. Others include Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited, Natural Gas Authority of India Limited, Development Telematics Center and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited.
Recruitment lags
Amitabh Jhingan, partner at EY Parthenon and NITs, said recruitment volumes by traditional Tier 1 recruiters have not kept pace with the massive growth in the number of graduates from IITs and NITs, creating opportunities for a new category of recruiters to pick talent from these premier institutions. . EY Global Education Sector Leader. Additionally, he said that while overall recruiting at public state universities has declined, their desire to “diversify and revitalize their human capital and talent base” may increase recruiting at Division I campuses.
Among the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology, first-generation institutes such as Madras, Mumbai, Delhi, Kharagpur, Roorkee and Kanpur started their placement season in December. The second and third generation IITs and NITs will be implemented from August to September to gain a head start.
“We usually visit top-ranked IITs and prefer to visit on day 0 and day 1 of internship,” Nishith Chaturvedi, chief human resource officer, NPCI, said in an email reply to Mint. “We also visit different campuses Candidates participating in the program are exposed to enable them to showcase their talents and skills ahead of the on-campus recruiting season.”
MintQueries sent via email to the other PSUs mentioned earlier as well as IITs in Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, Roorkee, Kharagpur, Madras and Guwahati remained unanswered.
PSUs compete with high-frequency trading firms (HFTs), private banks, startups and consultancies, offering salaries exceeding a few crores of rupees in some cases as well as international positions. High-frequency trading and advisory firms also offer long-term incentives and variable bonuses that are part of overall compensation.
“Interestingly, in the second phase, PSUs mostly went to IIT campuses for recruitment where the best talent had already been placed and are now trying to compete with top finance, software, analytics, consulting and IT companies,” he said. Kripa Shankar Singh, Training and Placement Officer, IIT Patna.
Attractive proposal
According to the placement team of IITs, benefits such as accommodation and travel and job security offered by public institutions are attractive to students.
“The average salary offered by these PSUs is comparable to private sector companies and there is more job security here, so many students want to get into PSUs,” said a 2025-batch student from IIT Kharagpur.
Jhingan said that while PSUs may not replace banks, consulting and IT companies as employers of choice, they have emerged as a potential employment option for students graduating from IITs and other Tier 1 institutions and looking to start their careers.
A placement officer at an old NIT said students would think about the situation after a few years instead of jumping on the first good offer letter. “Money is important, but I see students finding out where their roles will be in a few years, what research opportunities they will have, opportunities to upskill, etc. Some PSUs are providing that.”
Personal income tax is also lending a helping hand to state-owned enterprises. A placement coordinator at one of the top five Indian Institutes of Technology told Mint that they expect companies such as the Gujarat Minerals Development Corporation (GMDC) and the Gas Authority of India (GAIL) to conduct recruitment in the second phase.
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