India not singled out in visa fee hike: US

Mumbai, Nov 6 (PTI) The US on Saturday sought to assuage
the IT industry here, saying India had not been singled out on
the issue of rise in visa fee, a move that raised the hackles
of technology firms.
"Indian IT firms had not been singled out in this regard
and countries like South Korea and Taiwan would also pay more
for it," US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke told a private news
channel.
The US government had decided to increase the visa fee to
raise an additional USD 600 million to beef up security border
security along its border with Mexico.
The US accounts for about 60 per cent of India's total
USD 50 billion IT and IT enabled services exports.
The visa fee hike, termed as discriminatory by India, was
followed by US state Ohio banning outsourcing of government IT
projects, a step that further irked the Indian players. Both
these moves coincide with a fragile recovery in the US economy
coupled with high unemployment levels.
Indian IT industry's apex body Nasscom had said the US
Border Security Bill has logical flaws and is discriminatory
in nature.
Asked if other US states would follow Ohio's ban on
outsourcing work to foreign companies, Locke said that India
had been affected as it was not a signatory to the Government
Procurement Agreement (GPA) under the WTO.
The visa fee hike, which came into effect from August
this year, is expected to add USD 250 million to Indian IT
sector's annual visa costs. The Visa fee was hiked by about
USD 2000.
The impact had perhaps appeared disproportionate as a
large number of visas for the professionals are applied
for by India, Locke said.
The GPA is a pact that deals with the issues relating to
government purchases.
President Barack Obama, who is on a three-day visit to
India, in September had suggested that tax breaks could be
ended for companies outsourcing work overseas.
The Indian IT industry, however, has denied the charges
that it was the reason for job loss in the US. In fact, the
industry claimed that it was the only sector that created jobs
there and that job losses were in manufacturing, retail and
other industries.
"...We in India are a part of the solution and not the
problem (unemployment)," Nasscom President Som Mittal said.
Mohandas Pai, Director-HR and Board Member, Infosys
Technologies said: "The visa issue is getting very ugly. it is
not that we are taking away jobs from America." PTI TEAM
MYR