Indian technology companies may be less exposed to the Trump administration's latest restrictions on high-skilled visas than in the past after reducing their use of H-1B visas.
Employment under the H-1B visa program at Indian tech companies in the US has fallen significantly over the past five years, as companies have expanded local hiring, according to a statement Tuesday from Nasscom, an industry group that represents India's $315 billion information technology industry.
The group also added that Indian tech firms have been investing in STEM education in the US, and said the Trump administration's new roughly $103,000 fee for H-1B sponsorships should be viewed in the context of its original goal of helping US employers fill short-term skill gaps.
Nasscom's statement comes as India's technology sector assesses the impact of the Trump administration's latest proposed fee hike for H-1B visa sponsorships. The work program, long a pathway into the US labor market for highly educated foreigners, allows employers in the US to hire foreign workers in specialized sectors. Indian-born workers accounted for about 71% of approved H-1B petitions in fiscal 2024, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The White House's new proposal, announced Monday, is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to squeeze a program that opponents have long argued undercuts American workers. In June, a federal court struck down Trump's first $100,000 H-1B fee policy. The administration is appealing that decision, and has proposed the latest fee through a regulatory process.
Monday's proposal drew less immediate concern across India's technology sector than Trump's original order last year. The 10-member Nifty IT Index rose 0.6% Tuesday. The benchmark has shed more than $60 billion this year, as Indian firms have grappled with pressure from AI and weaker growth.
Top Indian software outsourcing firms — historically among the biggest users of the H-1B program — have repeatedly told investors over the last year that their dependence on the program has fallen.
In quarterly earnings calls, Tata Consultancy Services said it had “significantly localized” its US workforce, with only about 500 employees traveling to the country on H-1B visas during the fiscal year. Wipro in October said more than 80% of its US workforce was local, while Infosys has said most of its US employees do not require visas.
Those changes reflect a broader shift that began well before Trump's latest move. Indian IT companies stepped up US hiring and expanded local delivery centers after immigration restrictions tightened during Trump's first term, while the pandemic accelerated the amount of work that could be performed remotely from India.
Analysts said the higher visa fee could still add to costs for Indian tech firms. BOB Capital Markets analyst Girish Pai said tighter worker restrictions could push up the share of revenue generated onsite and weigh on margins.
Research suggests tighter US immigration rules have previously had spillover effects that came to benefit India. A 2026 paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives said H-1B caps and long green-card waits kept some skilled workers in India and led others to return home with experience gained in the US, helping build the country's technology workforce.
About 15,100 technology professionals returned to India in 2025, compared with 9,800 a year earlier, according to Bengaluru-based talent consultancy Xpheno. Another 7,300 had returned in 2026 through the period covered by its data.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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