Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman has said that there are many misconceptions over the changes in H-1B visa regulations.

In a brief chat with BusinessLine, she said, “The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has gone on record that there are no large-scale job loss es over it.”

Selection process

“The picture is about the selection process; the kind of people eligible for H-1B visa. It may be different from what it was before and I suppose the entire H-1B narrative has got vitiated because Australia came up with their 457 through which they have been restricting entry of people.”

“H-1B visa per se does not mean reduction in numbers, at least immediately. The nature of people receiving H-1B could be different because they are looking at high-end workers and Nasscom has repeatedly come out with statements that said there has not been any major change in employment figures.”

When asked about loss of jobs, particularly in the IT sector, she said: “I want to have a debate on this in all its nuances rather than think any workforce-related adjustments that IT companies do, even for their own business models, need not get linked to H-1B.”

Currency strength

To a query on the currency strength and its impact on exports, she said: “In a global situation where currency fluctuation is the new normal, a strengthened rupee may not help exports per se . Exporters probably are keeping that in their costing, in the way they do the business. But you look at currency in isolation, a strong currency at any time is not favourable. “You have to look at other things that add to export cost and not just the currency. Credit for instance is still high, adding to production cost, not helping exporters. On the other hand, the interest subvention and MEIS scheme seems to have made a lot of difference for exporters.”

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