USA Says Yes To More Investments In India, IPR Policy But What About H1-B Visa Fees? 

India expects higher foreign direct investment (FDI) from the U.S. in defence, medical devices and electronics sectors, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told BloombergQuint in an exclusive chat on Wednesday, after discussions with the U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman at the Indo-U.S. Trade Policy Forum.

India recently relaxed FDI limits in six sectors, including defence, medical devices and electronics, and was hopeful of increased inflows in the sectors. In the defence sector, prominent U.S.-based manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, had expressed plans to set up shop in India to manufacture aircraft, including possibly the advanced F-16 fighter jets.

The U.S. also showed first signs of acceptance towards India's National IPR Policy, Sitharaman said, reiterating that the policy is fully compliant with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), and that the same has also been recognised by the United Nations in a report.

But there's no progress on the visa front. India's protests against an increase in fees for H1B work visas prompted the North-American nation to set up a group to look into the issue, but no concrete measure has been suggested so far. India had also raised the matter of the increase in fees and reduction in the quota of visas issued at the World Trade Organisation, the verdict of which is still pending.

The issue of H1B visas assumed significance in light of an increase in the levy impacting Indian IT companies, for which the U.S. is the largest market.