The recent policy grenade that Donald Trump’s administration has hurled across the Pacific has shaken up India’s IT sector and stock markets.
Last week, tech giants and professionals were caught off guard as Washington DC announced a hike in the H-1B visa fee, from $2,000–$5,000 to $1,00,000 (approximately Rs 88 lakh).
The fallout was expectedly immediate. Reports claimed that the markets opened deep in the red, with Infosys, TCS, and HCLTech stocks tumbling sharply, dragging both the NSE Nifty50 and BSE Sensex down at the bell. The IT sector, which heavily relies on the H-1B pipeline to keep its US operations running, bore the brunt of investor anxiety.
At the time of this article doing live, Sensex and Nifty dropped in early trade.
The 30-share BSE Sensex came down 475.16 points to 82,151.07 in opening trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 88.95 points to 25,238.10, according to a news portal.
Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Tech and Tata Consultancy Services were trading lower in the range of 3.88 to 2.26%.
Sun Pharma, Bharat Electronics, Axis Bank, and Tata Steel were among the top losers. Adani Ports, Eternal, Trent, and Bajaj Finance ended the day as notable gainers, the report added.
Furthermore, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, and Shanghai’s SSE Composite index were trading in the green. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged lower.
In the US, panic was playing out at airport terminals. Visuals showed anxious Indian workers cutting vacations short and landing in the US en masse, fearing they might be stranded abroad under the new fee regime. A wave of uncertainty surged until the Trump administration clarified that the new visa fee would apply only to fresh applicants, not returning workers.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick reportedly said the goal behind the policy was to discourage companies from hiring foreign workers.
He explained that companies would now be forced to pay the government $100,000 in addition to paying the employee, making it economically unviable. According to him, instead of training foreign workers, companies should focus on training recent graduates from American universities and stop bringing in people to take American jobs. That, he said, was the rationale behind the $100,000 annual H-1B visa fee.
Currently, Indians account for 71% of all approved H-1B applicants, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services data, making them the hardest hit by the policy jolt.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded with cautious concern, stating the move could have humanitarian consequences by way of the disruption caused for families. It expressed hope that these disruptions would be suitably addressed by US authorities.
In a broader statement, the ministry noted that the industry in both India and the US had a stake in innovation and creativity and would likely consult on the best path forward.
It observed that skilled talent mobility and exchanges had contributed enormously to technology development, innovation, economic growth, competitiveness, and wealth creation in both countries.
Further, it added that policymakers would assess recent steps while taking into account mutual benefits, including strong people-to-people ties between India and the US.
As markets try to digest the implications, and tech firms recalibrate their staffing models, one thing is clear: the price of opportunity in the US just skyrocketed. It may come at the cost of talent, trust, and transnational ties.
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