America's H-1B Visa Loss Is India's Tech Industry Gain

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Now, Washington wants companies to pay a six-figure premium for each new hire in that pool. It's hard to imagine a more direct incentive to keep the work where the talent originates.

A decade ago, when visa fees rose and quotas tightened, US multinationals responded by expanding their Indian delivery centers. The pattern repeated during pandemic-era restrictions. This latest hike is larger and will accelerate the same trend.

India is ready. Tech and business-process exports surpassed $200 billion last year, overtaking merchandise trade as the country's biggest foreign-exchange earner. The rupee has held steady while the dollar has strengthened, making Indian contracts even more attractive to US clients.

Wage inflation that worried some investors during the post-pandemic hiring boom has eased, and every spring, a new wave of engineers, including more than a million graduates, many trained in AI and cloud computing, enters the Indian workforce.

The government is reinforcing that base with tax incentives for software parks, streamlined data-protection rules that reassure overseas clients and heavy investment in data-center capacity and 5G networks.

These steps lower operating costs and remove friction for global firms shifting more work to Indian teams.

For America, the move is counterproductive. The H-1B program has been central to breakthroughs in semiconductors, biotechnology and artificial intelligence, among others.

By importing the world's best minds, the US has effectively outsourced education costs while keeping the innovation at home. Raising the price of entry undermines that advantage and invites competitors to capture it.

India, with its scale, democratic stability and proven track record of protecting intellectual property, is the obvious destination.

Investors who sold Indian IT shares on the initial headlines may want to rethink their moves. Analysts already expect offshore revenue, where margins are higher, to grow as US clients adjust their staffing models.