HYDERABAD: Amid a tough job market, a computer science engineering student from Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH), has landed a Rs 2.5 crore package from a Netherlands-based firm in this year's placements.

According to IITH, this is the highest package ever bagged by a student in the history of the institution, which started in 2008.Edward Nathan Varghese, a final-year student, will begin work with Optiver — a global trading firm — as software engineer from July. The 21-year-old secured the offer after converting a two-month internship into a pre-placement offer (PPO).

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"This was the first and only company I interviewed for. I was ecstatic when my mentor indicated that the firm would be extending me an offer.

So were my parents," a jubilant Varghese told TOI on Wednesday. Born and raised in Hyderabad — he later studied in Bengaluru from class 7 to class 12 — Varghese said he was always confident of landing a handsome package, the slowdown in the market notwithstanding."I knew that the IIT tag would draw companies to our campus and that the effect of the present job market would be minimal. Also, since first year of engineering, I was into competitive programming and among the top 100 in the country.

That too helped me crack the interview, along with the curriculum that gave us the option to do a wide range of courses. I was lucky to get a PPO," said Varghese, whose parents are both engineers.While two students were selected for the internship at Optiver, Varghese alone got a PPO. The summer internship included two weeks of training and a six-week project. He will be working full-time at the firm's Netherlands office. Apart from Varghese, another CSE student at IITH walked away with a Rs 1.1 crore package — raising the bar for the institute. Until now, the highest package ever offered to an IITH student was about Rs 1 crore, recorded in 2017.Avg package up by 75%But 2025 not only changed that, it also saw the average packages at the institute jump by about 75% compared to 2024 — from Rs 20.8 lakh to Rs 36.2 lakh. A total of 24 international offers were secured by students this year in the first phase of placements, which ended in Dec."More than packages, our target is to ensure that all students who want to get placed receive a good offer. Along with tech jobs, we are also concentrating on providing good opportunities to core engineering students by giving PSUs and core engineering companies early slots," said Mayur Vaidya, faculty-in-charge (FiC), Office of Career Services, adding that they are constantly reaching out to more firms and highlighting their flexible calendar, diversity of courses, and curriculum to ensure more companies come to campus.Vaidya said in Phase 2 of placements, more postgraduate students are likely to receive offers from domestic companies.Currently, 196 PG students out of 650 have been placed, with an average package of Rs 22 lakh. When it comes to UG students, 62% of the 487 students who registered for placements received job offers.Highest packages in the last 3 years:2025-26 – Rs 2.5 crore2024-25 – Rs 66 lakh2023-24 – Rs 90 lakh