H-1B curbs won’t break India-US tech ties
GCC hiring offsets impact of tighter H-1B rules
image for illustrative purpose
Bengaluru: Despite the imposition of punitive tariff of 50 per cent and tighter restrictions on the H-1B visa programme, the technology ecosystems of India and the United States remain deeply aligned, with no impact on collaboration, industry experts said.
Experts believe a decoupling of the two technology sectors is unlikely, even as the Donald Trump administration adopts a more protectionist stance.
“Decoupling, per se, will not happen between the Indian and US technology ecosystems. Instead, coupling will take place in different forms,” said V. Balakrishnan, chairman of venture capital firm Exfinity Ventures and former CFO of Infosys, in an interaction withBizz Buzz. “Market economy will work. The world requires resources, and India provides it at scale,” he added.
India has recently faced friction with the US administration under Donald Trump over its continued purchase of Russian oil amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. At the same time, negativity and political rhetoric from sections of Trump’s support base — the MAGA group — has intensified against Indian professionals working in the US.
As a result, the US has imposed several restrictive measures on H1B visa applications. The US has imposed a $100,000 entry fee for new H-1B applicants and scrapped the existing lottery-based selection system for approval of visa applications. Owing to such changed measures, many IT companies have stopped tapping this route for sending technology professionals to the US.
However, technology captives of foreign firms (Global Capability Centres) have ramped up hiring in India.
“The H1B route was the easiest way to enter the US, which is why it has become an easy political target of the MAGA group. But that is reflecting in more hiring in India by the GCCs (Global Capability Centres). GCCs are hiring more in India. Hiring will shift from the US to India due to such measures,” Balakrishnan added.
According to Quess Corp report, India’s IT hiring environment showed improvement with total IT job demand touching 1.8 million roles in 2025, a 16 per cent rise over the previous year.
Global Capability Centres increased their contribution to India’s IT hiring market, accounting for nearly 27 per cent of total demand in 2025, up from around 15 per cent in 2024. Such increased hiring by GCCs is likely to continue in 2026 as the US administration remains inimical to the movement of professionals from India. Despite continued engagement of India & US tech ecosystems, experts opined that if the US comes up with measures to restrict offshoring, it may create complexities in the future.
