Chennai, Nov 25 (IANS): Student suicide controversy-hit Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) on Monday said that 158 students have secured pre-placement offers.

In a statement issued here IIT-M said: "As many as 158 students have secured PPOs (pre-placement offers as of 22nd Nov 2019) as against 135 during entire 2018-19 Academic Year."

The institute claimed the increased PPO is due to its internship programme that gives students to intern in companies that are large recruiters.

According to IIT-M, a total of 1,334 students have registered for placements for the Academic Year 2019-20. The total number of companies registered for Phase I of Placements is 170.

They will be recruiting for a total of 322 profiles, including 35 international profiles. As many as 54 startups are also coming for recruitment, the statement said.

The IIT-M was recently mired in controversy as Fathima Latheef a bright student committed suicide allegedly due to religious bias.