The Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Lucknow has recorded its best-ever BTech placement season, with the average annual package touching Rs 40 lakh and the median package rising to a record Rs 41.5 lakh. The announcement came as Padma Shri awardee Prof Manindra Agrawal, Director of IIT Kanpur, assumed additional charge as the institute’s director.Prof Arun Mohan Sherry formally handed over charge to Agrawal after being appointed Director of IIM Shillong. Speaking after taking charge, Agrawal said his immediate focus would be to prepare a roadmap for the institute’s future growth.“IIIT Lucknow is a young institute with significant potential. My first priority will be to assess its requirements, prepare a long-term strategy and ensure the institute continues to grow,” he said.Agrawal acknowledged that IIT Kanpur, being a larger institution, would require a greater share of his time but said he remained equally committed to IIIT Lucknow. He added that a dedicated team would be formed to oversee the institute’s day-to-day administration while he maintained regular engagement through visits and remote coordination.The leadership transition coincided with IIIT Lucknow announcing record placement figures for the 2025-26 BTech batch.According to the institute, the average annual salary package increased to Rs 40 lakh from Rs 33.71 lakh last year, while the median package jumped to Rs 41.5 lakh from Rs 26 lakh, the highest in the institute’s history.Read | IIT Madras announces GATE 2027 exam dates, introduces Robotics paperStory continues below this adOut of 217 eligible students, 204 secured job offers, resulting in a placement rate of 94.01 per cent.The highest domestic package of Rs 1 crore per annum was bagged by Vedant Gore, a student of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (CSAI) programme, who was recruited by global data management company Rubrik.Students received offers from leading recruiters, including Amazon, Google, Rubrik, Meta, Graviton, Uber, Zomato, ICICI Bank, Meesho, Harness, PayPal, Cisco and Microsoft.Before demitting office, Prof Sherry described leading IIIT Lucknow as “a matter of immense honour, pride and satisfaction” and thanked the Board of Governors, faculty, staff, students, alumni and other stakeholders for supporting the institute’s academic, research and innovation ecosystem.Story continues below this adExpressing confidence in Agrawal’s leadership, Sherry said IIIT Lucknow would continue to achieve new milestones in education, research and technological innovation. Sherry will now take over as Director of IIM Shillong.— with inputs from PTI