New US immigration Bill will hurt Indian IT firms: Sharma

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SME Times News Bureau
Expressing his concern over the discriminatory measures related to skilled non-immigrant visas in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill passed by the US Senate, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Anand Sharma Monday said that elements of the Bill will undermine the competitiveness of Indian IT businesses in the US.

"our IT companies have contributed enormously to the US economy through job creation, local hiring, and enhancing the competitiveness of their clients, who included some of the US's largest businesses," said Sharma in a meeting with Steve Van Andel, Chairman of the Board of Directors, US Chamber of Commerce, in New Delhi.

Indian companies support more than 280,000 jobs in the US and have contributed more than USD 15 billion to the US Treasury in the last five years. Investments of more than USD 5 billion have been made in the last five years alone, by way of acquisitions, said the press release.

Andel conveyed that the US Chamber is on the "same page" on the issue and there is need to be more vocal about the ill effects of the proposed legislation.

Highlighting the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and National Manufacturing Investment Zones (NMIZs) as "path breaking initiatives which will pave the way for a new age partnership between our two countries", Andel evinced US' interest in investment in these regions.

Sharma informed Andel that the DMIC, which passes through six Indian states, accounts for 43 percent of national GDP, half of industrial output and exports and employs 40 percent of total workforce.

Sharma also mentioned about the National Manufacturing Policy announced by Indian Government which has taken cognizance of the serious challenge of reviving the growth of manufacturing and raising its share in gross domestic product (GDP).