Flipkart may be back at IIT-B with placements

With the placement season at the country’s premier institutes barely two weeks away, IITs have still not written off the company from offering jobs to students this time round.

After being issued a warning letter by the All IIT Placement Committee (AIPC) for offering students jobs and then not honouring their word, e-commerce giant Flipkart might find its way back to the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) this year. With placement season at the country’s premier institutes barely two weeks away, IITs have still not written off the company.

More than 300 companies, including six public sector undertakings (PSUs), have already registered with Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay.(HT FILE PHOTO)

Earlier this year, IITs across the country had taken a stand against various companies, either for not having verified documents to prove their authenticity or for going back on their initial job offers.

In August, the AIPC blacklisted 31 companies for a year, including start-ups such as Grofers, PepperTap, Portea Medical and Johnson Electric. Flipkart had run into trouble with several IITs across the country for offering jobs to students during the first phase of placements in December last year, and then deferring the hiring of those students till May. AIPC served a warning letter to Flipkart in August.

Read: IITs blacklist 31 firms over placement complaints

While hundreds of firms have signed up to offer jobs to students during placement season, even more companies are still expected to register. More than 300 companies, including six public sector undertakings (PSUs), have registered with IIT-B.

“We are still in touch with the students who were selected last year. A few of them are doing internships at Flipkart, which the company offered last year. We haven’t contacted the company yet. As soon as we get confirmation about the offers made last year and their joining dates, we will consider their case this year,” said Tom Mathew, placement manager at IIT-B.

The first round of placements across IITs will start on December 1. This year, 1,500 of the 1,800 students have registered for placements. While many companies that showed up last year will show up again in the first phase of placements this year, new companies such as Vedanta Group, Toyo Engineering and Faurecia as well as recruiters from the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector are expected on campus. Many old and new start-ups are featured in the list of 300 companies at IIT-B placement 2016. However, students are cautious. “There’s a general sense of caution among students about their decisions this time round,” added Matthew.