H-1B visa: Nasscom spent record Rs 2.8 cr to lobby US govt in 2016

Nasscom has been arguing that Indian firms have generated 50,000 local jobs in the US

National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), India's IT services trade group, spent $440,000, or about Rs 2.8 crore, in 2016 to lobby with the US Congress, making it the highest spending in the decade and a half period during which the body began pushing its case for a more liberalised visa regime for Indian software workers.

Till 2003, Indian IT services firms had little restrictions with regard to using the visa regime to send engineers to work on projects to help US firms cut costs and improve efficiency as they transitioned to a digital economy.

But soon, pressure