The Andhra Pradesh Government has said that the embargo by the US Government on outsourcing of information technology projects and consultancy jobs has hit the Indian IT industry.
“There has been a reduction in the business from the US market because of the embargo by the US Government,” Ponnala Lakshmaiah, AP IT Minister, said.
The Minister has written to the US Ambassador and the Union Ministers of External Affairs and IT and Communication. Lakshmaiah said the significant increase in US visa fee too had hurt the IT industry. “IT professionals need to travel quite frequently to the US on various projects. We appeal to the US Government to go back to the earlier fee structure,” he said.
Talking to reporters here recently, the Minister said the mandatory social security contribution from the IT professionals (in the US on short trips) too was putting pressure on the IT industry.
On visa processing for applicants from Andhra Pradesh, he said that all visa applications from IT firms and professionals from the State were being processed at Chennai. “This is resulting in loss of time, energy and resources. We request the Ambassador to complete the processing in Hyderabad itself,” he said.