The annual convocation of Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna (CIMP) was held on Sunday amid announcement of cent per cent placement seven months before 55 students of the ninth batch of postgraduate diploma in management (PGDM) could complete their course.

Twenty-three officers of the Bihar government also successfully completed the first batch of executive programme in management (EXPM) and received their diploma/certificates along with the PGDM students. Abhishek Anand received the gold medal for emerging out as the topper of the PGDM batch, while Aishwarya Verma clinched the same for topping among girls.

The chief guest of the convocation function was Satyajeet Rajan, director-general (tourism), ministry of tourism. Rajan, in his convocation address, said: “It is good that all 55 passing out students have been placed but I would have been much happier if some graduating students had become an ‘employer’ by opting out as ‘entrepreneurs’, rather than being ‘employed’.”

Referring to Kautilya and Chandragupt Maurya to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, Rajan asked the passing out students to adopt simplicity in life. CIMP director V. Mukunda Das told students taking salary without adequate work was a “sin” and advised them to keep their personal and professional lives insulated and never try to use one’s connections in professional life for any position or gain.

Das said the students had achieved almost cent per cent placement seven months before completion of the course. The highest package offered was Rs 15 lakh per annum, while the average was Rs 7 lakh per annum.

Students have been placed in various sectors such as banking financial services and insurance, fast moving consumer goods, dairy, aviation and aerospace and development among others across different verticals like sales/ marketing, HR, finance and business analytics among others. Around 45 per cent of the total students are girls, which itself is a matter of pride for Bihar.

Atul Kumar, a PGDM student, who has been placed with Devyani Food Industries Ltd, Gaya, said: “The best part of the institute is that it provides placement to maximum students. In our batch, all 55 have been placed. I have been placed with an annual package of Rs 6.5 lakh in Gaya.”

Atul, before joining CIMP, had done his BBA from Manipal University. He said: “The faculty members of the institute are good. The coordinators of placement cell take serious interest in placement of students.”

CIMP Patna was set up in 2008 as an autonomous institution with support of the state government. The institute, apart from providing management programmes, runs educational programmes for children and students from weaker sections of the society.