IT body Nasscom’s Mittal to focus on visa issue on US visit
11 Jul 2013
Indian information technology industry body Nasscom will directly lobby in Washington over the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill, which seeks to restrict entry of skilled workers into the US. The bill was recently passed by the US Senate.
Nasscom is already actively lobbying with US lawmakers to offset the negative impact of the bill. Now, the industry representative will further expand its scope of engagement to include other stakeholders like American corporations and think-tanks.
Nasscom president Som Mittal will be part of the delegation during commerce minister Anand Sharma's visit to the US starting today, and is expected to lobby widely for the Indian IT sector's concerns.
India's finance minister P Chidambaram is already in Washington, and raising similar concerns with US lawmakers and business leaders.
Talking to the Financial Express, Mittal said, ''We are now engaged with many platforms and associations in the US. We have told the various stakeholders that certain provisions in the immigration Bill affecting the Indian IT industry will also have an adverse impact on the US corporations.''
Nasscom, which has already engaged a lobbying firm to interact with members of the US Senate and House of Representative, is now talking to other influential bodies which could have a bearing on the bill.
The $76-billion Indian IT and BPO (business process outsourcing) services industry, largely export-oriented, generates over 60 per cent of its revenue from the US.
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, which includes companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle, has been one of the key votaries of increasing the number of H-1B visas granted by the US every year.
This is evident in the immigration bill, which increased the cap on H-1B visas from 65,000 to over 115,000.
