IT industry body Nasscom has came out in defence of its members TCS and Infosys, saying the two accounted for only 7,504 -- 8.8% -- of the approved H-1B visas in 2014-15.
The US has accused top Indian IT firms TCS and Infosys of "unfairly" cornering the lion's share of the H-1B work visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system.
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Indian technology firms use H-1B visas to send their employees to work at customer sites in the US, which is the largest market for the over $110 billion Indian IT export industry.
Over the past few weeks, there is a growing sentiment of protectionism across various markets, including the US, that are seeking to safeguard jobs for locals and raise the bar for foreign workers.
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"Nasscom would like to clarify on the statements made by the White House on Indian companies getting the lion's share of H-1B visas and highlight that in 2014-15, only six of the top 20 H-1B recipients were Indian companies," it said in a statement.
TCS and Infosys together received 7,504 approved H-1B visas in 2014-15, which is only 8.8% of the total approved H-1B visas, it added.
While the two software exporters have not issued a formal statement on the issue, they have stated that they ensure compliance with norms in the markets that they operate in.
Every year, the US grants 65,000 H-1B visas while another 20,000 are set aside for those with US advanced degrees.
In the US, the Trump administration wants to replace the current lottery system with a more merit-based immigration policy.
Any change in visa norms can affect the movement of labour as well as spike operational costs for IT players. Nasscom, US Government, Cheating Allegations, TCS, Infosys
Nasscom highlighted that "every reputable data source" in the US has documented a growing shortfall between the supply and demand for computer science majors in the US workforce.
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