Amid the U.S. H-1B visa crunch, India sees an unexpected upside. Nara Lokesh, Andhra Pradesh’s IT minister, told Moneycontrol, “This is an opportunity for India for brain gain,” highlighting the potential for the country to attract skilled professionals who might otherwise head to the United States.
The minister emphasized that India’s appeal goes beyond cheap labor. “If you look at Global Capability Centers in India, the product they’re offering, it’s for the globe,” he added.
His remarks come against the backdrop of turbulence in the H-1B visa program under the Trump administration. The visa, long criticized for drawing skilled Indians to the U.S. in pursuit of higher living standards, has become a flashpoint in debates over talent migration.
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Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are offshore units established by multinational companies to manage critical business functions, technology development, and innovation from cost-effective locations such as India. Once primarily focused on back-office or support tasks, these centers have now transformed into strategic hubs, leading initiatives in digital transformation, analytics, artificial intelligence, product design, and research for their parent firms.
According to a Moneycontrol, India hosts around 1,700 Global Capability Centers, accounting for more than half of the world’s total.
Describing the sector as highly dynamic, Nara Lokesh said, “GCCs are very aggressive.” He added, “We are building a GCC ecosystem, the AI data center that is coming up in Vishakhapatnam,” noting that initiatives like these will contribute to India’s “brain gain.”
The minister told Moneycontrol that the Andhra Pradesh government is targeting the creation of two million jobs over the next five years.
READ: Proposed H-1B visa overhaul targets ‘loopholes’: Key changes explained (
The U.S. is preparing to impose stricter rules on the H-1B visa program, a shift that could deeply affect Indian IT workers and international students looking to work in America. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a draft proposal, titled “Reforming the H-1B Visa Non-Immigrant Visa Programme,” aimed at revising major elements of the program, including eligibility requirements, regulatory oversight, and fee structures.
The proposed H-1B changes come amid rising concerns over the migration of skilled Indian talent to the U.S., particularly in the IT sector. Experts suggest that tighter rules could push companies to rethink hiring strategies, while also encouraging Indian professionals to explore opportunities within the domestic market or in other countries. Recently, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) CEO K. Krithivasan said the company does not plan to hire new H-1B workers. He added in an interview that TCS will prioritize expanding its workforce with local talent.
TCS has historically been the largest employer of H-1B visa holders in the U.S., hiring 98,259 workers between 2009 and 2025. In 2025 alone, the company onboarded 5,505 H-1B employees, surpassing tech giants such as Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Google.