Bhubaneswar, May 29: The National Institute of Fashion Technology (Nift) here has recorded 80 per cent placements so far with the highest pay package being Rs 7.2 lakh per annum.

The average annual salary for the batch of 36 fashion management students, who received their degrees today, is Rs 4.3 lakh.

Institute officials said the second leg of campus recruitments would begin in the first week of June.

The list of headhunters included several top-notch brands such as Reliance, Pantaloons, Marks&Spencer, Aditya Birla, Future Group and Arvind Lifestyle Brands. Most students were absorbed by Aditya Birla for yearly salaries as high as Rs 5.5 lakh.

“Last year, we had posted 100 per cent placements and we are hopeful of repeating history this time. Many students have got pre-placement offers,” said joint director of Nift-Bhubaneswar Binaya Bhusan Jena.

On the sidelines of the convocation function, authorities disclosed plans of launching two continuing education programmes from the next academic session commencing in August.

“We have decided to start one-year continuing education programmes in fashion retail management and garment export merchandising management,” said Jena.

The institute will also offer five short-term summer programmes during June and July. While “writing research papers and research methodology” will be a two-day course, classes for computer-aided textile design, fashion styling and sketching, and surface technique and lifestyle accessories will span a week. The retail store operation and sales promotion programme would go on for two weeks.

In the evening, students collected their degrees from eminent personalities present at the convocation function. The guests included president of Reliance textiles division Anand Parekh, noted artist Jatin Das, filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda and managing director of United Colors of Benetton Sanjeev Mohanty, who is a Nift alumnus.

The Nift Student of the Year Award was conferred on Lakshmi S.S. while the Nift Extraordinary Service Award went to Rakesh Ranjan Behera. The two gold medallists bagged cash prizes of Rs 11,000 each. The best academic performer prize and three post-graduation project awards in marketing, fashion merchandising and fashion management practices were also given away.