Concerns on HIB visa conveyed to US officials: Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad
BENGALURU: The H1B visa concerns plaguing the IT sector today, have been conveyed to the officials concerned in the U.S. India is not stealing jobs in the United States but creating them, said Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad on Saturday.
Prasad was speaking to reporters in the sidelines of an interactive meeting with IT /ESDM industry in the city. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Washington met the Commerce Secretary of the US and had conveyed the concerns surrounding the developments on H1B visa regulations.
The IT sector was under stress because of what was happening in the US. The sector is based on reciprocity. MNCs are getting copyrights patents because of Indian minds. It is a two-way street. The success of Make in America is based on the R&D centres in Bengaluru and India,” he said.
Indian IT companies had paid USD 22 billion as tax revenue in the last five years and created 400,000 jobs there, giving value and competitive edge to two-thirds of the fortune 500 companies, Prasad said lauding their contribution.
Responding to a query on Apple setting up its unit in India, he said the US-based iPhone would be meeting him very soon. India is a huge market and Make in India should facilitated manufacturing in India and exporting it outside, he said.