'US work permits process should not include restrictive practices'

Can Narendra Modi, himself denied a United States visa, lobby for more visas for the Indian IT industry, a sector that seems to be perennially battling visa restrictions?

The post-Lehmnan era was marked by a number of restrictive regulations that included higher visa fees for Indian companies, restrictions on placement of Indian engineers on client sites as well as caps on the number of H1-B visa workers in a company's workforce. At various points, the Indian IT services industry described these provisions as "discriminatory" and "negative", since American multinationals that use the same Indian global delivery model don't face such regulations. The industry wants the new government to start a dialogue with the US.

Partly linked to the visa issue is Indian IT's mission to change its brand image - from that of a provider of low-cost services to a hub of innovation. Natarajan said that the new government could enable that. The CEO also added that smaller companies in the IT industry would need the government's help to access global markets and scale. "Policies that extends tax benefits or gives incentives linked to jobs created can be useful," he said.