Mumbai: Banking on the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has sent out invites for campus recruitment to over 100 foreign companies that are planning to invest in the country.

“We have focused on big companies from abroad in the past as well, but this time our attention and focus has shifted to companies which are trying to enter the Indian market in response to the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative,” said Rahul Soni, placement manager, IIT Bombay.

The institute’s placement team has sent out invites to around 120 companies from Germany, France and other countries listed under the Make in India campaign.

“Those that have shown interest in entering India would definitely have plans to hire employees in India,” Soni said, explaining the logic.

The institute is hopeful that a few of these companies will turn up for the upcoming campus recruitment, though a large number of them might not be able to enter the country this year. As per Make in India’s official website, over 200 companies from abroad are listed as foreign investors across various sectors, including automobiles, defence manufacturing, aviation and construction.

In 2014-15, around 380 companies participated in IIT Bombay’s campus recruitment.

Placement cells of most IITs have started preparing for the upcoming recruitment season that starts in December this year.

There are 16 IITs in the country.

The placement cell at IIT Kanpur is also gearing up for recruitment. While the institute has not sent out invites to companies listed under the Make in India campaign, it might consider doing so, according to a person who is part of the placement process at the institute.

“It is a cool idea to chase those planning to invest in India. We might think about it,” the person said.

IIT Madras is currently inviting past recruiters and does not plan to sort out firms based on the Make in India campaign, though the core sector is a big focus for the institute.

“We have always made sure that at least 60-70% of the recruitment happens from the core sector. At the same time, people with core functional skills have always been in demand even in information technology companies,” said Babu Vishwanathan, placement advisor, IIT Madras.