Kolkata: Starting with a positive note this year, the placement season at the Indian Institute of Management - Calcutta (IIM-C) has kicked off beating the recession of 2008, claimed officials on Tuesday.

"Visiting firms have offered more than 100 job offers till last week. Lateral placements are ongoing in the campus since January first week," said a recent press release from the institute.

The IIM-C authorities claim that there are more than one company offering a package of over Rs.20 lakh per annum, which is the highest package so far by a domestic company.

The list of companies visiting the campus so far include Cognizant Business Consultant, Delloitte, Hinduja Group, Aditya Birla Group, Accenture Business Consulting, Mahindra & Mahindra, Virtusa, Essar and Bristlecone with the institution claiming that the list has doubled since last year.

Cognizant Business Consultant is one such firm, which is making news in the campus as it has recruited the highest number of students with the pay packages running into a two-digit figure, revealed a source form the campus.

According to his statement, the placement session of 2010 is yet to catch up with the pre-recession figures and the prevailing atmosphere in the campus is that of 'sentinel optimism.'

The final year students having a work experience of more than 10 months undertake lateral placements.