http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/31/technology/india-h1b-visa-trump-tech-companies/
Amid the hue and cry over President Trump's travel ban, news of another potential change to American immigration rules has set off a panic attack in India's tech industry.
Major Indian tech shares took a nosedive on Tuesday on reports that Trump is planning to make changes to the H-1B visa program that allows skilled foreigners to work in the U.S.
Shares in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), India's biggest private sector employer, plunged more than 5% on Mumbai's stock exchange, while other top firms like Infosys (INFY) and Wipro (WIT) fell by more than 4%.
TCS and Infosys declined to comment. Wipro did not respond to requests for comment.
India's vast outsourcing industry employs millions of people. Its business in the U.S., where it provides engineering and other tech services to firms such as IBM (IBM, Tech30), Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) and Citibank (C), is highly dependent on the H-1B visa.
The U.S. is worth about $65 billion to India's tech industry. Indian media warned of a major setback ahead.
"[It] is a fact that these categories of workers are in short supply in the U.S.," said R Chandrashekhar, president of Nasscom, which represents India's software industry. Restricting H-1B visas would "have implications for both Indian companies and American corporations as well," he told CNNMoney.
The former U.S. ambassador to India, Richard Verma, estimated last year that 70% of the 85,000 H-1B visas issued annually go to Indian workers. The visas, which are currently allocated by a lottery system, are hugely oversubscribed -- demand for them in 2016 was three times more than the number available.