India must respond creatively to growing restrictions on Indian technology workers by the United States. After doubling visa fees, a new US law will penalise companies employing over 15% of workforce on H1-B visas. Minimum salaries for H1-B visa holders will escalate to $90,000 per annum, such companies cannot move H1-B employees to another client or displace existing employees. There is little doubt that these are discriminatory and onerous provisions for Indian companies.

A symbiotic relationship for India and US is being vilified. India must respond not just with lobbying, but with other instruments as well. India can take a leaf out of China’s playbook and leverage its strengths in IT. China has blocked US conglomerates like Google and Facebook and Chinese companies and their services like Baidu, WeChat, Weibo and Alibaba have benefited immensely. Stalling US conglomerates would give the Indian tech industry a fillip and help local tech firms scale up, producing hundreds of thousands of jobs at home.

Today, Google and Facebook dominate India’s digital advertising industry, cornering nearly 75% of the market. Google’s move to block “intrusive” ads is an example of how it dictates terms to Indian content producers. Rather than become a digital colony of American tech companies, the focus must be on enabling Indian startups to compete with global giants. Foreign investment doesn’t solely flow through Amazon, Alibaba or Facebook’s seemingly magnanimous Free Basics. A competitive startup environment will draw India’s talented techies, who helped build Silicon Valley but are now being spurned. Startup India and Digital India mustn’t remain populist slogans: they can propel Indian IT’s next wave of growth. A strategic vision and dialogue involving central and state politicians, bureaucrats, businesses, technologists and academia must be set in motion.