August 26, 2013
BANGALORE/NEW DELHI: Wipro chairman Azim Premji has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek the intervention of US President Barack Obama to remove provisions in a proposed immigration bill that are discriminatory towards Indian IT firms.
August 26, 2013
BANGALORE/NEW DELHI: Wipro chairman Azim Premji has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek the intervention of US President Barack Obama to remove provisions in a proposed immigration bill that are discriminatory towards Indian IT firms.
"This is in the interest of Indo-US trade relations and in keeping with your vision to increase bilateral trade by five times from the current level of $100 billion," Premji said in a letter to the PM.
Wipro has been one of the most aggressive in lobbying against the immigration bill. Earlier this month, Wipro was reported to have spent $240,000 till July this year on lobbying in the US, compared to $210,000 it spent in the whole of 2012. Much of this spending is believed to have gone into lobbying to remove the more stringent provisions in the immigration bill.
The bill has been hanging like a sword over the Indian IT sector. A version of the bill – which could have serious ramifications for the sector – has been passed by the US Senate. But it is yet to be approved by the House of Representatives, and it is far from clear what version will finally be agreeable to the majority of US legislators.
"Provisions of the Senate Bill that are discriminatory and target Indian companies are outplacement bans and restrictions; attestation on recruitment of US workers; and higher wages to H-1B employees versus American employees," Premji said in his letter.
The outplacement clause makes it expensive and difficult to bring people to the US on H-1B visas for firms that already have 15% or more of their employees in the US on such visas. The worst hit are Indian IT firms, all of whom have very high proportions of their employees in the US on H-1B visas. It will also make them less competitive against rivals like IBM and Accenture, whose US employee base consists largely of American workers.
The attestation clause requires companies to attest to actively recruiting American workers; not displacing American workers with H-1B visa holders; and not replacing laid-off American workers with foreign workers.
"Discriminating against Indian companies in favour of American IT services companies, including leading companies aggressively selling into India, this is not in the interest of free trade," Premji said.
Seeking to address America's concerns about job losses, Premji said, "Contrary to misconception, Indian IT companies in the US have, in the past five years, created American jobs of at least 35,000 and today support 280,000 jobs in the US. Three out of these four jobs are held by Americans. Contrary to this, a leading American services company has, in the last six years, reduced 36,000 American workers (seemingly a dig at IBM)."
Pointing out the recent changes in the Indian government's policies with respect to foreign direct investment, preferential market access and transfer pricing, Premji exhorted the "US government to reciprocate and not create impediments for Indian companies".
Courtesy: TOI
