H-1B rejections: An Opportunity for India.

IT consulting firms' approval rates are 20 - 30% lower than technology firms like Google, Microsoft, Amazon etc, which have their own technology centers in India.

H1-B approvals are getting tougher by design. This is true for L-1 visas as well. Needless to say, IT consulting firms are responding to this threat by hiring more citizens and green card holders rather than deploying H1-Bs. Unfortunately, the demand-supply inequity in the US for technology skills hinders this approach.

The outlook for service providers, with H1-B visas baked into their business model, does not look rosy. To India's benefit, this imbalance is influencing the behavior of US enterprises, who in their urgency to stay ahead of competition, have started leveraging talent in India by setting up their own centers. Their need for better integration with business is only accelerating this process.

In addition, the growth of the innovation ecosystem in India, comprising of start-ups, academia, global technology firms with a revenue generating objective in India, research institutions, investors, the continuously growing pool of technology talent, and government's “Make In India" initiative, is accelerating the center expansion process.

It is no longer just a cost-rate arbitrage for global enterprises and they are deriving significant value from the talent pool in their respective India centers. To this end, global enterprises are transforming their centers into innovation centers where inventions are taking priority over just support activities. This is reflected in the number of patents filed in India last year.

Today, India hosts more than 2000 centers of global enterprises employing over 1 million employees. These numbers are still growing aggressively. The potential rejections of H1-B visa renewals are going to move talented technology leaders to India to lead these centers.

These centers, in turn, spawn off new start-ups through their incubation and accelerator programs, which in turn drives innovation. This self-sustaining cycle is an opportunity for India to stay ahead in the innovation race globally.