Global slowdown and job cutbacks be damned. The Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode’s (IIM-K) class of 2010 just wrapped up its summer placements with the 261-strong batch getting placed across some 102 national and international firms, up from the 66 who participated last year.

The highest international stipend for the eight-week internship was $6000, offered by Vega Foods in Singapore. Coca-Cola came up with the highest domestic offer, with a Rs 1-lakh stipend. Summers 2009 also saw students walk away with 14 international offers versus four last year.

The profiles for interns are spread across locations like Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Germany, South Africa and London. Despite the anxieties due to the global economic crisis, national and international companies have flocked to the campus for summer placements for the batch of 2008-2010.

Interestingly, 27% offers came from BFSI, investment banking and private equity that’s a marginal dip from 28% last year, considering the increase in the number of students opting for summer placements. The catch being investment banks like JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Edelweiss Capital recruiting for their domestic operations. “Even if the scenario is negative in the global markets, companies are still expanding their domestic operations and still they require people.” says IIM-K placement coordinator Hitesh, Bhagia.

In fact, banks and other financial institutions actually increased the number of offers as compared to last year. Some of the other banks that recruited from IIM-K were Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, American Express, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.