Published on, Sept. 21 -- September 21, 2025 2:45 AM

Washington's latest proclamation has dropped like a hammer: a $100,000 annual fee slapped on every H-1B petition. Cloaked as a defence of American workers, it has instead detonated across global technology chains, triggered lawsuits, and left corporate America scrambling. The blast radius, however, is centred on India. For decades, Indian outsourcing firms thrived on rotating legions of engineers through American projects, padding balance sheets while projecting a strategic partnership with Washington. That model now looks fragile. A six-figure tax per worker threatens to gut the very engine that made Bengaluru the back-office of Silicon Valley. Shares of Indian IT firms plunged, proje...