New Delhi: After struggling to get job offers for students last year, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are again in demand among the MNCs (Multi National Companies) this year. All the IIMs are flooded with pre-placement offers (PPOs). "While the early PPOs were extended primarily by consulting firms, now investment banks and private equity firms, too, are offering PPOs. Many of the offers are for international roles in places like Europe, U.S., Singapore and Hong Kong. We expect many more PPOs in the coming days," Vivek Jain, IIM-A (Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad) Placement Committee Media Co-ordinator told the Economic Times. These job offers have not only brought cheers at IIM campuses, but also seem to suggest that the coming placement season would turn out to be a better one than last year. As compared to July earlier this year, when close to 7-10 percent of batches across IIMs of Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta had received PPOs, the figure has gone up by anywhere between 15-20 percent in these institutes. Other IIMs in Lucknow and Kozhikode, too, are witnessing a much better flow of job offers as compared to the past year. IIM-A, for instance, has already received some 60-70 PPOs so far. Though the institute's placement committee did not disclose any official figures, students inside the campus confirmed that after a lull phase in August, job offers have again started coming in during the past six weeks. Some of the companies that have extended job offers to students at IIM-A include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, HUL, UBS and Citigroup. In mid-September last year, only 20 percent of the batch of 250 had received PPOs. This year, the batch size at IIM-A is close to 300 students. IIM-B (IIM-Bangalore) too did not disclose any official PPO numbers, but a student aware of the development said, "The institute has already received around 50 such offers. The placement representative at the institute was not available for comment." On the other hand, placement circles at IIM-C (IIM-Calcutta) said although the PPOs are lesser as compared to the same time the past year, the expected rise will come only in the next couple of months. "Apart from companies from sectors like finance, consulting, marketing and general management, IIM-C has also got PPOs from a few IT companies and Wall Street Banks. Markets are definitely picking up and we are expecting a better Placement 2010," said Paul Savio, External Relations Secretary, IIM-C. IIM-K (IIM-Kozhikode) has also witnessed a 30-40 percent increase in the number of PPOs as compared to the last year.