Attracting talent positioned abroad – The Hindu

When Washington imposed a one-time $1,00,000 fee on the issuance of new H-1B visa petitions in 2025, the move did more than unsettle young Indian engineers based in the U.S. It also forced skilled professionals to reassess the cost of their American aspirations and compelled companies to reconsider where they source and retain talent.

A geopolitical earthquake triggered by the Trump administration has also coincided with a moment when India is looking for its best talent positioned abroad to think and act Swadeshi and consider reinvesting in India. Macrotrends in this regard have all been adversely positioned over the last 10 years, given how poorly India’s domestic private investment scenario has been despite the best government efforts. Recent government signals indicate a structured push to re-engage India’s global talent through initiatives including Global Access to Talent from India (GATI), eMigrate V2.0, Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty Scheme, and the Know India Programme. Senior officials have urged overseas professionals to “return and reinvest” amid global visa uncertainties.

State-level experiences

A common paradox in India’s major metropolises is that while they excel at building startup ecosystems, they remain unliveable for families of returnees. Maharashtra continues to be the nation’s largest startup cluster. It also has a Startup, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation Policy (2025). However, because of the lack of housing subsidies, school seat guarantees, and spouse-employment support, household entry costs remain high. This offsets declining firm costs and makes its congested, expensive cities affordable only to the wealthy. Delhi draws more returnees due to its institutional centrality, proximity to national labs, policy networks, and ministries than its entrepreneurial volume. This benefit is enhanced by a proposed startup to increase venture activity. However, Delhi serves as both a gateway and a gatekeeper, favouring those with established institutional capital due to housing costs and extensive recruitment networks at universities and institutes. Karnataka serves as an example of structural ambition devoid of absorptive realism. Its Beyond Bengaluru and Skill Development Policy (2025-32) seek to decentralise growth through Global Capability Centres in Mysuru and Mangaluru. However, “family-readiness” is constrained by inadequate global research infrastructure, healthcare, and education.

These cases are connected by two empirical insights. First, States give institutional support such as incubators, seed money, and infrastructure priority over family relocation policies. Second, mobility studies demonstrate that while wages draw migrants, retention is influenced by networks, spouse employment, and educational attainment. This unevenness shows that while States compete to attract firms, they rarely plan for people. The absence of housing, education, and spousal employment provisions explains why returnees often view India as a temporary assignment rather than a permanent reintegration.

H-1B policy shift

With nearly 71% H1-B approvals in FY2024, India’s dominance in the H-1B visa programme is unparalleled. This dominance makes India highly sensitive to U.S. policy shifts. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, in FY 2024, 71% of the 3,99,395 total H1-B approvals were Indian nationals and 46% of total beneficiaries held a master’s degree.

The educational profile of H-1B holders has also shifted markedly over time: the proportion of workers with a master’s degree as their highest qualification rose from 31% in 2000 to 57% in 2021, while those with only a bachelor’s degree declined from 57% to 34%. Following policy revisions in September 2025, the U.S. introduced limited exemptions to the proposed $1,00,000 filing fee, particularly for applicants already in the country who transition from F-1 student to H-1B status. This provides short-term relief for U.S.-educated Indian graduates but affects new overseas applicants. Shivani Desai, the CEO of BDO Executive search firm, estimates that the number of Indian students from Ivy League universities seeking positions in India has risen by about 30% this year, while senior Indian executives in the U.S. are increasingly reassessing long-term career prospects amid visa uncertainty. This reversal comes at an opportune moment. With 1,600+ Global Capability Centres employing 1.66 million people and rising U.S. visa costs, conditions are ripe for a shift from brain drain to brain circulation.

Retaining talent remains equally challenging. India’s R&D investment is merely 0.64% of GDP, far below the U.S. (3.47%), China (2.41%), and Israel (5.71%), due to limited private sector incentives. This gap reflects both limited public funding and the structural composition of India’s corporate sector.

Addressing this imbalance by incentivising private R&D investment and diversifying into higher-intensity sectors such as software products, semiconductors, and advanced manufacturing will be crucial if India is to convert the H-1B disruption into a genuine innovation dividend. The H-1B disruption could catalyse a wave of innovation if cities, universities, and firms strengthen social and research infrastructure to retain returnees. Otherwise, the next generation of highly qualified workers will simply pursue their futures elsewhere.

Deepanshu Mohan, Professor and Dean, O.P. Jindal Global University; Visiting Professor at London School of Economics; and Academic Research Fellow at University of Oxford. Geetaali Malhotra and Aditi Lazarus contributed to this piece.