Indiana woos Indian IT companies to create jobs for locals

American states are courting Indian IT service firms to increase jobs for locals as President Donald Trump looks to fulfil his election pledge of increasing jobs for US nationals. Indiana State is said to be offering up to $31 million in incentives to Indian IT companies to set up shop in their state.  The incentives being offered, including tax holidays and one-time grants, would be financed through development funds that most US states have created. For instance, one of the largest incentive packages ever offered by Indiana is to the Indian IT major Infosys. This package will provide for the company’s cost of establishing the centre. Meanwhile, Infosys said it would spend around $8.7 million to let out and furnish its office space in Indiana. An IT executive was quoted by the Economic Times as saying that when cities, states, and counties can offer incentives in places with a local college network, reasonably priced talent can be hired and trained there. Eric Holcomb, Indiana governor, stated that it took them few months to freeze the Infosys deal.  Holcomb is planning to come to India to pitch his state to other IT majors. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation is planning on granting up to $15,250 in conditional tax credits for every job created by the company and up to $500,000 for training. Another IT executive said that companies were talking to states where they already have a presence to discuss incentives to expand operations there. Companies such as L&T Infotech have gone on record to say that they would look hire more people in the tri-state area, comprising New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Ganesh Natarajan, chairman of 5F World, a skill development platform, said that Midwest states were more aggressive in giving incentives as they haven’t seen the magnitude of jobs that states like New York and California create. Raman Roy, chairman of Indian IT industry body Nasscom, said that the incentives were not related to the H-1B visas but to the jobs that were created by the IT industry. Finally, this is also an opportunity for Indian IT companies to hire locals across the US to work along with them. If you are looking to migrate to the US, get in touch with Y-Axis, an immigration consultancy that is held is high esteem, to apply for a visa from one of its many offices.