Bhubaneswar, Oct. 7: The National Institute of Fashion Technology here has set a record in on-campus placements this season with the highest pay package offered reaching as high as Rs 30 lakh per annum.

Niraj Kumar, a master of fashion management programme student from the institute’s pioneer batch, has received the offer from Goodyear Tyres, which beats the salary packages being given to engineering students at premier IT colleges of the capital.

With this feat, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) authorities are now hopeful that their institute will be able to fill up 20 per cent reserved seats for domiciled students from the next admission season.

“Despite the domicile quota, there has been little response from students and parents here. We have 24 seats (six seats in each programme) for local students. However, in the past three years, only 11 students from the state have taken admissions in our institute,” said NIFT Bhubaneswar director K.C.S. Ray.

This year, only three students from the state took admissions, leaving 21 seats vacant. The institute was set up following the state government’s proposal to the ministry of textiles for a NIFT centre in Bhubaneswar. The government also spent Rs 58.65 crore to set up the institute, which started functioning from June 2010.

“The government invested the money and also ensured that students from the state could get a chance to study at a premier institute like ours by reserving 20 per cent of the seats. But lack of awareness among both students and parents about the fashion industry has led to this situation,” said Ray.

However, the institute authorities now are making all efforts to ensure that it gets more domicile students. Besides visiting major colleges and schools in the state to publicise their courses and future prospects, they have requested the higher education department to inform government-run colleges about NIFT’s presence in Odisha and admission process.

“We have communicated to various institutions that we will send career counsellors to sensitise students about career opportunities in this sector,” said NIFT-Bhubaneswar deputy director Purandar Sahu.

“Most students are unaware that they need to appear for a series of tests, including an All-India entrance, to get into the institute. Some students approached us after the admission process was over and we could offer little help to them,” Ray said.

He added that a session was recently held at the Kendriya Viyalaya-I in the capital.