Mumbai: Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad asked software exporters not to get “perturbed” too much by the visa issue for sending professionals into their largest market, the US, saying American companies cannot “survive” without their help.
“Do not be unnecessarily perturbed by the US visa issue. I don’t think American companies can survive without our companies. They cannot,” Prasad told a meeting organised by the industry lobby IMC.
The minister elaborated that the issue of massively hiking visa fees apart from restricting the number of IT professionals’ entry into the US, has been raised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Barack Obama. Job losses due to the shift to cheaper alternatives like India have always been a very contentious issue in the US, and the emergence of the ultra-right Donald Trump as the Republican presidential candidate has only heightened fears in the sector. Stating that country’s IT industry has clocked exports of $108 billion last fiscal, Prasad said they currently serve a majority of the Fortune 500 companies.
