FM's Operation Graduation

High salaries reversing brain drain in India

By Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

NEW DELHI: Talent hunters from the big global names in business and finance, who regularly scout India's top business schools, are suddenly finding themselves competing with local companies, ready to match the top dollar salaries.

On March 13, Gaurav Agarwal, a student at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) at Bangalore, found himself surrounded by television cameras after it was announced that the British investment banker, Barclays Capital, had offered him an annual salary of 193,000 US
dollars. It was a record of sorts but one which lasted barely three weeks.

The Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) stated on April 5 that one of its graduates had been offered a salary of 223,800 dollars by an Indian firm. Three other students from the same institution had received job offers each exceeding 200,000 dollars. Spokesman at the ISB refused to disclose the names of either the students or their potential employers to maintain confidentiality.

"What was especially surprising was the fact that the highest salary in US dollars was offered by an Indian technology company with international operations," Ajit Rangnekar, deputy dean of the ISB, told IPS. "It is significant that Indian companies are today willing to pay global salaries to talented young graduates so as to be able to compete effectively in the world market - that's the big message," Rangnekar said.