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India Emerging as a Preferred Destination for IITians
Delhi, India: April 14, 2008: Many Indian families will not experience the same struggles as the
Ganguli family depicted in the famed book and movie, “The Namesake”, as it seems most fresh IIT
graduates in India now prefer not to leave India for the United States or other developed countries.
It is well known that graduates from the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITians) have historically
preferred to move to the United States or other countries to pursue higher studies and explore more
attractive career opportunities. However, preferences have changed during the last few years according
to a recent survey of 677 IITians by Evalueserve – a global research and analytics’ firm.
Among IITians who graduated during 1964 and 2001, 35% moved to countries other than India, while 65%
remained. However, among IITians who graduated in 2002 and later, only 16% moved while 84% remained in India.
Recent graduates also believe India will be the most promising geography for IIT graduates in 10 years.
Listed here are additional insights that can be gleaned from Evalueserve’s survey:
• Among IITians who graduated during 1964 and 2001, 60% believed that when they were
graduating, the United States and other developed countries provided better opportunities
while only 40% believed that India did. However, among 2002 and 2008 IIT classes (including the
class that will graduate in June 2008), this number dropped to 51% who believed that
developed countries would provide them better opportunities whereas 49% believed that India would.
• Interestingly, the point of “inflexion” arrives with the graduating class of 2002 where
these changing trends became more pronounced. This likely correlates to the growth of India’s economy
(8% - 9% in real terms and of 14% - 15% in nominal terms).
• When restricted to the United States, 30% IITians who graduated during 1964 and 2001 moved to
the United States whereas only 12% did so during 2002 and 2007. Better academic opportunities was the
primary reason for moving to the United States for 70% of IITians who graduated prior to 2002, and 63%
of those graduating in 2002 or after.
• Among those IITians who wanted to move to the US, a substantial percentage actually ended up
not moving. For example 35% of graduates from the 2002-2007 graduating classes who wanted to move to the
United States ended up not moving, which was considerably higher than the 10% of the corresponding group
from the 1964-2001 graduating classes. The following were some of the reasons cited by the respondents
for not moving (after all): (a) stringent visa norms after the 9/11 terrorist incident,
(b) high cost of living, limited scholarships, and high tuition fees, especially in the top universities
in the US, and (c) the perception of reduced employment opportunities and a poorer life in the US.
• Those who chose to stay in India have cited the following reasons for their decision: (a) wanted to
be closer to their homes, culture, and family (33%), (b) Limited number of job offers overseas that are
significantly attractive (only 17% of the respondents who graduated before 2002 perceived that there were
limited job opportunities in the United States as compared to 28% who among those who graduated after 2001),
(c) substantial increase in job opportunities and improved standard of living in India (19%), and
(d) significant entrepreneurial opportunities in India (5% of the respondents who graduated before 2002
preferred India due to entrepreneurial opportunities as compared to 11% among those who graduated during
2002 and 2008). Finally, IITians continue to give a low score to India with respect to educational
opportunities (2%).
• Most strikingly, when asked, "10 years down the line, which geography do you think will hold
the most promise for success?" 72% chose India, with only 17% opting for the US, 5% for Europe and 2%
for China.
About Evalueserve
Evalueserve provides the following custom research and analytics services to companies
worldwide – Emerging Markets and Regions, Intellectual Property & Legal Research, Market Research,
Business Research, Financial/Investment Research, Data Analytics and Modelling. Evalueserve was
founded by IBM and McKinsey alumni, and has completed over 12,000 client engagements on behalf of
global clients. Several hundred of these research engagements have focused on emerging markets and
regions including China, India, South America and Eastern Europe. Nitron Circle of Experts, a recently
acquired subsidiary, is an independent research firm which provides institutional investors with direct
access to a network of senior industry executives in a wide range of industries. The firm currently has
over 2,100 professionals located in research centres in India, China, and Chile. Additionally,
Evalueserve’s 45 client engagement managers are located in the major business and financial centres
globally – from Silicon Valley to Sydney. For more details, please visit www.evalueserve.com .
Disclaimer
Although the information contained in this article has been obtained from sources believed
to be reliable, the author and Evalueserve disclaim all warranties as to the accuracy,
completeness or adequacy of such information. Evalueserve shall have no liability for errors,
omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof.
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