With summer placements less than a fortnight away, the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) is preparing for offers to rain on the campus. Expectations are high, after record offers in Slot Zero and Slot One last year.

“We expect the number of Slot Zero firms to go up by more than 100 per cent,” said Vivin Hegde, recruitment coordinator at IIMC. “The number of international companies recruiting for Indian positions has increased.”

Among the investment banks, UBS (one of Europe’s largest), Credit Suisse and ABN Amro, which traditionally recruit during the final placements, are, for the first time, coming for summer placements as well. In fact, Morgan Stanley London and Credit Suisse are recruiting exclusively from IIMC. Goldman Sachs, too, is making its debut at IIMC this year, and Barclays Capital is coming back after a year’s break.

Deutsche Bank and Barclays Capital will be recruiting for associate positions, normally reserved for students from top global B-schools with significant work experience.

These investment banks generally offer Indian students positions in markets, considering their analytical skills. They are now offering positions in corporate finance, including mergers and acquisition (M&A) advisory.

“Last year, only Lehman Brothers offered M&A advisory positions. The number of firms offering similar positions has increased to five this year,” stated Hegde. There has also been an increase in the number of private equity firms coming for placements.

Along with the increase in the number of recruiters, IIMC will see a quantum jump in the stipends offered.

Last year’s domestic high of Rs 1,00,000 per month and the international high of $ 6,000 per month are expected to be topped. Already, Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey have announced monthly stipends of Rs 1,10,000 and Rs 1,08,000, respectively.

Even Slot One firms are offering impressive stipends, with Accenture offering Rs 40,000 per month.

Over the past few years, summer placements have become increasingly important, with companies deciding to do a significant part of their recruitment by offering Pre Placement Offers to summer interns.