Cheap no more.

Under President Donald Trump, "Visa (H-1B) application fees have been raised to as much as $100,000, and further restrictions are under discussion in the US Senate, causing uncertainty for firms reliant on skilled foreign talent." No matter. "Currently, 50% of Fortune 500 companies operate Global Capability Centers (GCCs) in India. These centers employ 1.9 million professionals and generate $65 billion in annual revenue. By 2030, the figures are expected to reach 2.8 million employees and over $100 billion in annual revenues." TOI. Unfortunately, the hike in H-1B fees is causing lower campus placements in India. "Domestically, IT - the mainstay of placements - has scaled back, leaving fewer openings for graduates." "Infosys plans to hire 20,000 freshers this year. Wipro is eyeing over 10,000 and HCL Tech is expected to hire over 7,000." Mint. Other nations have globally recognized brands which "represent their nations' values, aspirations and capabilities." But, "Despite our size, creativity and global reach, we have not birthed a single brand that commands global recognition," wrote industrialist Harsh Goenka. Perhaps the main reason is, "With 1.4 bn consumers, companies have found ample scale. Then why struggle with Europe's exacting standards, or the US' brutal competition, when India's tier-2 and tier-3 cities promise growth? Most Indian companies are content with 20-30% export revenue." Sandipan Roy, who has spent three decades in the US said that Indians cannot replicate the same success in India. It is the ecosystem in the US that converts them into the best version of themselves. BT. Patent filings in India have risen from 40,000 in 2013 to about 60,000 in 2023. Filings by educational institutions have gone up from 20% of total filings in 2013 to 42% in 2023 while the share of companies have dropped from 40% to under 20%. A patent should be for an invention or a new innovation of commercial value. Patents from educational institutions without increased R&D have no such value, wrote Mihir Mahajan & Arindam Goswami. The numbers are stark. "Korea spends 5% of its GDP on R&D, whereas India only 0.7%. Of this small sum, the Indian private sector contributes a niggardly 41% against Korea's 79%. Tellingly, Samsung invests 8-11% on R&D, but Reliance a paltry 0.6%," wrote Dipankar Gupta. "Training in practical skills secures employment. Academic knowledge alone may be insufficient for several tasks." "Close to 60% of India's 34mn students enrolled in undergraduate degree courses may end up in jobs unrelated to what they study in college or university. That's nearly 20mn studying subjects irrelevant to their future," wrote Prof Binay Panda. So dire is the situation that, "Forget Harvard, Oxford or Toronto. Thousands of Indian students are now packing their bags for Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Malta and even North Korea. The shift is driven by steep costs at home, shrinking Western visa windows and intense competition for limited seats." Zee News. They may bring back cultural learnings to make benefit glorious nation of India. Like Borat did for Kazakhstan. (wikipedia). Americans are angry at losing jobs to cheap Indian employees. Trump has changed that. At $100,000 Indians are cheap no more.