Who bagged how many H1-Bs

With the exception of Infosys Technologies, there was a drop of over 50 per cent in the total number of visas bagged by Indian technology firms in 2007 compared to 2006. The number of firms in the top 10 also came down to seven from nine in the previous year.

The list of top 200 companies that bagged H-1B visas for fiscal 2007 (October 2006-September 2007) compiled by the American IT magazine InformationWeek, reveals this. In what could be a worrying signal for the Indian tech industry, every Indian company received a much smaller number of visas in 2007 compared to 2006.

And this was when the slowdown murmurs had not even begun. Industry honchos feel the numbers could shrink even further if the recession woes get aggravated.

Topping the list was Infosys Technologies with 4,559 visas (down from 4,908 visas in 2006), followed by its closest rival Wipro with 2,567 visas (down from 4,002 visas). Third was Satyam Computer Services with 1,396 visas (down from 2,880 visas).
On the fourth position was Cognizant Technology Solutions which bagged 962 visas. The country's top software company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was ranked sixth in the overall list with 797 visas (down from 3,046 visas). At the seventh position was the Mumbai-based Patni Computer Systems with 477 visas (down from 1,391 visas). At the ninth position was i-Flex Solutions (now Oracle Financials) with 374 visas (down from 815 earlier).

As the issue gathers steam in the days to come, the H1-B issue is back in the limelight with outsourcing becoming a contentious election issue in the US. Two US Senators have questioned 25 top H1-B visa users, including nine Indian firms.

The two have written letters to the companies to determine if the programme is being used for its intended purpose, which is targeted to fill a worker shortage for a temporary time period. The companies the senators sent letters to were Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Patni Computer Systems, I-Flex Solutions, Satyam Computer Services, Larsen & Toubro Infotech, Tech Mahindra Americas and Mphasis.

According to the InformationWeek list, seven of the top 10 in 2007 were Indian firms whereas three were US-based companies - Microsoft, Intel and US Technology Resources.

Some other well-known names in the top 200 list are Larsen & Toubro Infotech Ltd (292 visas, ranked 14th), Mphasis Corporation with 248 visas (ranked 17th), Tech Mahindra Americas Inc with 217 visas (ranked 29) and Polaris Software Lab India with 191 visas (ranked 37).