The average annual salary of graduates of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology has dropped by five per cent while that of the National Institutes of Technology graduates has increased by six per cent.

The average annual salaries of IIT graduates has dropped by five per cent to Rs 5.88 lakh in 2009, according to the 5th IDC-Dataquest T-School 2009 Survey of 111 engineering colleges across the country.

Though the drop in the annual salary of IIT graduates has been ascribed to global recession, according to the survey, interestingly the average salary of NIT graduates has improved by six per cent to Rs 4.36 lakh.

"Another reason for the drop in the annual salary of IIT graduates is that many bright students of IITs opted for higher studies instead of entering the job market," the survey pointed out.