Overview

• IIT Madras Director Kamakoti Veezhinathan said the steep U.S. H‑1B fee increase could keep more top students in India, describing it as a positive opening for the country.
• He argued that staying would strengthen domestic research and innovation, noting that only about 5% of IIT Madras graduates have gone abroad over the past five years.
• He suggested multinationals may seat new hires at Indian offshore campuses in cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi rather than sending them to the United States.
• He called for greater investment in research infrastructure and closer academia‑industry collaboration to create compelling career paths at home.
• He added that students have options beyond the United States, pointing to opportunities in the European Union and Singapore, as coverage noted the U.S. move is aimed at prioritizing higher‑salary roles.