Business
US H-1B visa fee hike: Indian IT firms facing $150-550 million in immigration bill – Know all about it – The Times of India
India’s top IT services firms are bracing for a steep rise in costs after the US government sharply increased the H-1B visa application fee to $100,000, nearly ten times the earlier $7,500–10,000. According to estimates, leading players could each end up spending an additional $150–550 million in immigration fees based on their past visa sponsorship levels, ET reported.
The US remains the largest market for Indian IT, contributing up to 85% of their revenue and employing 3-5% of the industry’s workforce onsite. For India’s IT giants like TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, and Wipro, the recent hike in US H-1B visa fees could cut their core operating profits (EBITDA) by 7–15%, according to industry analysts.TCS, for example, had about 7,000 H-1B approvals in FY23. If these visas come up for renewal in October 2025, the added cost of roughly $90,000 per petition could reduce EBITDA by 7–8%. As of FY25, TCS had 5,500 employees on H-1B visas.To mitigate the impact, firms are expected to accelerate offshoring and execute more work from India or other low-cost locations. However, for specialised roles requiring onsite presence, they will still need to sponsor visas-now at sharply higher costs. This could push companies toward greater local hiring and subcontracting in the US, though both options are costlier and may erode margins further.Industry executives caution that the move could disrupt project timelines, especially around renewals and workforce mobility. Clients may also feel the pressure, as IT vendors are unlikely to absorb the entire burden and will pass on costs directly or indirectly. “Profitability will be impacted as the overhead costs will go up, but companies will also cut corners in what skills will have to be kept onshore, and if they can make do with fewer people,” Akshat Vaid, partner at US consultancy and research firm Everest Group told ET.Recruitment experts believe the change will accelerate alternative models such as offshore delivery, gig-based work, and remote contracting.“This may stretch the project implementation timelines of clients as people will not be available locally. For individual professionals, there will be disruption, especially around renewals and mobility, but over time both employees and companies will find new ways of working,” Aditya Narayan Mishra, managing director and CEO of recruitment services firm CIEL HR told the outlet.“This will accelerate alternative talent models. With employers reluctant to commit to the heavy cost of sponsorship, we could see greater reliance on remote contracting, offshore delivery, and gig workers,” he added.The impact may not be immediate, as the next round of visa applications will only be filed in 2027. However, with $13 billion worth of deals due for renewal since July, analysts say the uncertainty could weigh on negotiations, renewals, and new project pipelines.While Indian IT vendors are better prepared for localisation, already embedding subcontracting and nearshore delivery into their models, analysts warn the broader $283 billion outsourcing industry faces renewed margin pressure after three years of sluggish growth. Interestingly, experts also point out that Big Tech companies, not just Indian IT firms, account for a large share of fresh H-1B applications, meaning the cost impact will be felt widely across the tech ecosystem.Experts suggest that companies may increasingly rely on offshore teams where possible, reserving onshore roles for critical skills exempt from the new fee order. The move comes amid broader disruption from slowing demand and the growing adoption of AI, forcing software exporters to adapt their delivery models and talent strategies.According to Motilal Oswal, Indian IT firms are relatively well-positioned to adjust because localisation and subcontracting are already integral to their operations. The report also notes that while H-1B visas are often associated with Indian IT, major US tech firms like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta actually account for a larger share of fresh applications.Overall, the fee increase is expected to pressure margins and client deals, but IT companies are likely to explore new ways to manage costs through offshore delivery, subcontracting, and selective onshore hiring.
Food bills are set to soar as much as 10 per cent this year as a direct consequence of the Iran war, a key industry body has warned.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents 12,000 food and drink manufacturers, has hiked its inflation forecast for the year from 3.2 per cent to between nine and 10 per cent.
During the 2022 cost of living crisis, food inflation rose at a rate of 10.9 per cent, figures from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) show, while the following year was even worse at 14.6 per cent.
Since then, it had dropped back to 2.7 per cent (2024) and 4.2 per cent (2025), but while this year had originally been forecast to deliver food inflation of 3.2 per cent, the latest assessment is that it will instead see a huge rise in the second half of 2026.
The FDF said the current situation is “unprecedented and hard to predict”, but it’s “clear that food inflation is going to rise in the months ahead”.
How much that adds to the average bill depends on the size and frequency of a consumer’s usual grocery habits, but on average, bills could rise by around £588, according to some estimates.
Consumer rights and review site Which? frequently assesses UK supermarkets for cost, and at the start of 2026, an average basket of 89 shopping products cost £161.56 at Aldi and up to £217.02 at Waitrose.
Assuming food inflation lands at the mid-point of the FDF forecast, 9.5 per cent, and that all products and supermarkets applied that uplift equally, that would move the costs of those shops up to £176.91 and £237.64 respectively.
Research from confused.com suggested the average UK household spent £119 each week on food shopping, which is £6,188 each year; a 9.5 per cent uplift to that equates to an extra £588 annually, or a total of just over £130 per week and £6,775 annually.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to meet with some supermarket chiefs on Wednesday, including Sainsbury’s and Tesco, over discussions to assess the upcoming impact of price rises on the cost of living. The Treasury has described it as a “fact-finding” conversation.
Last month, Asda boss Allan Leighton called on Labour to do more to help businesses after creating “a lot of constraints” for them.
For food manufacturers, there is both a concern now and another yet to come in terms of energy cost rises.
Diesel – used in farm machinery – is up by 80 per cent since the start of the war, while fertiliser costs could increase further, as well as supply being constrained. The FDF also points to lost sales due to cancelled shipments to the Middle East, with UK firms regularly exporting cheese, cereals, chocolate and more to the region.
Dr Liliana Danila, chief economist at The Food and Drink Federation, said: “The food and drink sector is already feeling the force of this geopolitical shock. As one of the UK’s energy-intensive industries, manufacturers are facing mounting energy bills, rising transport and packaging costs and disruption across key supply chains.
“These pressures are hitting simultaneously and are a significant challenge for businesses to absorb.
“The current situation is unprecedented and hard to predict; however, given the scale and speed of these cost increases, and despite companies’ best efforts not to pass price increases on, it’s clear that food inflation is going to rise in the months ahead.”
The FDF says its upgraded inflation figures were based on “assumptions that the Strait of Hormuz opens to cargo traffic within the next two to three weeks”, as has been suggested by Donald Trump this week, and that most commodities, including oil, gas and fertiliser production, return to normal within a year.
In the past few months, the FDF has repeatedly called for the government to offer support to businesses in the sector from rising energy bills in the same way as it does to those in some other manufacturing areas.
GST collections: India’s net Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections increased to Rs 1.78 lakh crore in March 2026, marking a rise of 8.2% compared to the previous month, according to official figures released on Wednesday.Gross GST revenue for March stood at Rs 2 lakh crore, which is an 8.8% increase over the same month last year.Abhishek Jain, Indirect Tax Head & Partner, KPMG says, “GST collections continue to show steady 9% annual growth, supported by strong import activity this month and consistent compliance. While export refunds have eased this month but remain healthy overall for the year”Refunds during the month totalled Rs 0.22 lakh crore, up 13.8% on a year-on-year basis, which resulted in net GST collections of Rs 1.78 lakh crore.Domestic GST revenue reached Rs 1.46 lakh crore, registering a growth of 5.9%, while revenue from imports was recorded at Rs 0.54 lakh crore, rising sharply by 17.8% during the period.Post-settlement GST figures across states presented a varied trend. While industrially advanced states recorded strong growth, several others reported a decline.Maharashtra contributed the highest amount to the overall collections at Rs 0.13 lakh crore on a pre-settlement basis, followed by Karnataka and Gujarat.Among states showing an increase in post-settlement SGST collections were Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, among others.On the other hand, states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, among others, registered a decline in post-settlement SGST revenues.
A wave of bullishness swept the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday, pushing the 100 Index up by more than 5,000 points to reach 153,700.
The surge reflects increased investor confidence and strong trading activity across major sectors.
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Food prices to rise by almost 10% due to Iran war, warns key industry body
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