In what could be the worst-ever placement year for Indian business schools, over a week of the placement process has seen an average only 40 per cent of eligible students finding takers. This is in sharp contrast to the 80 per cent who were placed within just the first two days last year, reportsto CNBC.

At the top-rated Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, nine days of placements have gone by and sources say only 200 of the 260 students have been placed. This number falls further if the 70 pre-placement offers are removed. Take away the 25 students who already have over three years of experience, and the number falls to a measly 105. Last year, this number was achieved in just two days.

IIM Bangalore, which is a week into its placements, has seen only 120 of its 249 students get job offers. At IIM Calcutta, 207 out of 265 students have been placed in four days. In these troubled times, IIM Bangalore and IIM Ahmedabad are buying more time. They have gone in for open-ended placements, which means that placements could go on for a month or even more.

Sources say the Indian School of Business has also seen a drop in placements. Only 180 of its 440 students have received job offers after 10 days.

There's pain on the salary front as well. Analysts say the average domestic salary this year has dipped from Rs 20-25 lakh per annum to just Rs 6-7 lakh.

With top recruiting sectors like investment banking and financial services saying pass, students are banking on telecom and FMCG companies.

At IIM-A, the placement process ended on Thursday with 109 firms visiting the campus.

The majority of this year's batch opted for the finance and banking sectors, which included pre-placement offers and lateral placements, apart from final placements.

The institute also claims that on the first day of the placement week, there were several offers made by international companies at packages which crossed of Rs 1 crore a year.

Director of the institute professor Samir Barua, while addressing a press conference said, "We knew that times were bad and to keep ourselves ahead, the institute contacted many more firms this year. Even firms that had not had the opportunity to come on campus for the last few years were contacted."

He said, "Average salaries this year have dropped since last year, but that was expected with the economic downturn. International companies, which have been recruiting with us, have come this year as well, but they have made fewer offers. This trend could mean that firms see IIM-A grads as people with skill-sets that can help them deal with the current situation."

While it has been the worst placement season yet for the IIMs, the situation is dismal in top non-IIM institutes compared to last year. Many MBA students at b-schools such as XLRI Jamshedpur, IIFT Delhi, NMIMS Mumbai and IMT Ghaziabad have started looking for jobs on their own. Finding themselves in the driving seat, companies are making students visit their offices for interviews.

While salaries are getting cut heavily across the board, the phrase '100 per cent placements' may not be in the lexicon of many b-schools this year.

The IIM-Bangalore has extended its campus recruitment process till every student is placed. Placements had begun on February 27. Last year the process was over in two-and-a-half days.

With most traditional b-school recruiters freezing hiring or reducing intake substantially, placement committees across b-schools are contacting newer companies that until now have been out of sight of top b-schools. These companies are in sectors such as pharma, publishing, small and medium scale manufacturing, public sector and start-ups.