Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Monday raised serious concerns over certain clauses in the United States Immigration Bill and maintained that it would strongly undermine the competitiveness of the Indian IT industry in the U.S., which supports over 28,000 jobs and has contributed nearly $15 billion to the U.S. treasury in the last five years.
Mr. Sharma conveyed these concerns to the visiting Chairman of the Board of Director of U.S. Chamber of Commerce Steve Ban Andel during a meeting here. Mr. Sharma also conveyed his concerns to the discriminatory measures related to skilled non-immigrant visas in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill passed by the U.S. Senate.
Mr. Andel conveyed to Mr. Sharma that the U.S. Chamber was on the same page on the issue and there was need to be more vocal about the ill-effects of the proposed legislation.
Mr. Sharma informed Mr. Andel that Indian IT companies had contributed enormously to the U.S. economy by creating jobs and enhancing the competitiveness of their clients, who included some of the U.S.’s largest businesses. “Investments of more than $5 billion have been made in the last five years alone, by way of acquisitions,” he said.
The Minister also sought U.S. investment in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project and National Manufacturing Investment Zones, which evoked a positive response from Mr. Andel, an official statement said here.
Mr. Sharma informed Mr. Andel that the DMIC, which passes through six Indian States, accounts for 43 per cent of national GDP, half of the nation’s industrial output and exports and employs 40 per cent of its total workforce. He made mention of the Centre’s National Manufacturing Policy, which has taken cognisance of the serious challenge of reviving the growth of manufacturing and raising its share in the GDP.
