New Delhi, March 27: The slum kid who graduated from IIM Ahmedabad only to turn down corporate jobs has proved more a trendsetter than an exception.

More and more students from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are opting out of placements and setting up their own companies.

“In 2005, two students opted out of placements; in 2006, the figure rose to six and this year, to 11,” said Bakul Dholakia, IIM Ahmedabad director.

“Now that the trend is clear, I would like a social study carried out on these students. Usually, they are under a lot of pressure from their families to take up the high-paying corporate jobs. All those refusing placements don’t necessarily come from wealthy backgrounds.”

Last year, 28-year-old Sarath Babu, who sold idlis with his mother on Chennai’s streets as a child, had said no to India Inc. to start his own catering business.

The incubation and innovation centres at the IITs and IIMs play a key role in helping the budding entrepreneurs make up their mind.

These centres may help a student test a business idea by entering into a partnership with an outside company, or allow another with a technological innovation to try it out through computer simulation. The centres bridge the gap of uncertainty between innovation and launch.

“Every year, we have six to eight students approaching the centres,” Dholakia said. But his institute isn’t an exception.

“Last year, nine students, including a topper, opted out of placements and set up their own business,” said IIM Lucknow director Devi Lal.

The huge demand for IIM graduates persists in the corporate world, Indian and foreign. The international salaries range from $225,000 (Rs 98 lakh) to $300,000 (Rs 1.3 crore) and domestic pay packets can be anything between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 1 crore.

But Madhup Bansal says it pays to avoid the beaten path. “You may have to take an initial salary cut but later the shares in your company could be worth much more,” he said.

Bansal had joined McKinsey after doing his MBA from IIT Delhi. He later quit the company and is now a shareholder in Kritikal Solutions, a technology design house set up by IIT alumni to help researchers and budding entrepreneurs. Its clients include the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Autometers Alliance Ltd and Xerox India Limited.

Bansal believes that being part of a firm like Kritikal has its own advantages. “It may not have the brand edge of a company like IBM or Intel, but you gather experience in different areas: technical, human resource and financial. In IBM or Intel, you can only have limited experience.”