Indian IT firms paid $15 bn in US taxes in five years, says foreign secy Mathai
Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai expressed hope that protectionism would not be an issue
The Indian IT industry in the US has contributed $ 15 billion in taxes in the past five years, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said in Washington on Tuesday, stressing on the need to eliminate discriminatory actions.
Mathai, on his first bilateral visit to the US as the foreign secretary, expressed hope that the economic challenges in the US would not lead to protectionism and that the concerns of the Indian IT industry will be addressed quickly. He was speaking at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
He is believed to have raised the issue in a Monday meeting with officials of the US Department of Commerce.
Earlier this year, President Barack Obama had in his State of the Union address called for tax breaks for manufacturing companies that bring back jobs to the US. As the US heads into a Presidential election later this year, the statement once again raised fears of protectionist economic policies.
Mathai pointed out that according to NASSCOM, the leading body for the information technology industry, Indian industry employs over 100,000 people in the US, up from 20,000 six years ago, and that it supports 200,000 other jobs, including indirect ones, apart from enhancing the competitiveness of some US industries.
“Most Indian companies are setting up development centres. Indian IT industry contributed $ 15 billion in taxes over the last five years. This success story should not be set back by stringent visa regulations which act as a non-tariff barrier,” he said.
“According to a back-of-envelope calculation, Indians paid over $ 200 million in visa fees. Perhaps $ 30-50 million has been taken from young aspiring Indians working in businesses whose US visas were rejected. The pink slip has become a greenback!” Mathai said. “”It needs reiteration that the targets of these discriminatory actions are precisely those who have contributed intellectually to the climate of reform in India, and who have been votaries of strong India-US relations.”