$193,000. That’s how much 29-year-old Gaurav Agarwal of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, will make once he joins Barclays Capital, a British Bank, to work on Global financial risk management. On the first day of placements, the offer beat IIM Ahmedabad’s record this season.

IIM-B notched up several other highs too.

‘‘I attribute the increasing salaries to the economy. I also feel that many Indian salaries being offered now are much more when compared relatively,’’ said Agarwal, an electrical engineer from IIT Kanpur. ‘‘I joined IIM Bangalore as I wanted to change what I was doing,’’ says Agarwal, who plans to return to India after a few years.

IIM-B also saw the highest offer for a domestic position by an international firm — at Rs 30 lakh per annum. That apart, 34 per cent of the batch was placed on the very first day. ‘‘This has been a historic event for us. Of the 182 students that opted for placements, 65 have already been recruited,’’ said placement committee member Saurav Bansal.

A total of 21 international firms were at the campus this year. Among them were Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Barclays Capital, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan.

Besides the investment banks, a large number of consulting giants were also present on the campus. These included Boston Consulting Group, Mc Kinsey, Bain and Co among others. McKinsey recruited nine graduates, the highest number so far.

A number of private equity firms such as Baring private equity partners, news giant Bloomberg and conglomerates like British Petroleum and Mittal Steel were also present on campus.

... contd.