H1B BILL MOVED IN US, TECH STOCKS PLUNGE AT HOME

India’s information technology (IT) industry will face several challenges

if the Bill to double minimum wages for H1B visa holders is passed in the US Congress. The impact will also be felt by American technology companies such as IBM, Accenture and Microsoft, which have been sending Indian engineers on these visas to the US. A California lawmaker, Zoe Lofgren, on Tuesday introduced the Bill in the US Congress requiring firms that employ workers on H1B visas to double their minimum pay to $130,000 a year. This will make it difficult for firms to use the programme to replace American employees with foreign workers, including from India. US President Donald Trump was likely to issue an executive order restricting H1B visas, his spokesperson Sean Spicer said. The development led to a blow to IT stocks, which plunged over four per cent, knocking off over ~33,000 crore in market valuation of top five firms. The BSE IT index fell 2.96 per cent, to settle at 9,586.34, AYAN PRAMANIK and SHIVANI SHINDE NADHE report MAJOR LOSERS Share price Jan 31, 2017

TCS Infosys Wipro -4.47%

~2,229.90

-2.01%

~929.30

-1.62%

~457.10 S&P BSE IT INDEX Source: Exchange Curb could India’s growth hamper2 > Tech firms to fight Trump’s immigration order in court >

In a strategy that may work in tandem with the Look East policy of India, state-run Indian Oil Corporation is set to foray into retail, pipeline and refinery sectors in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam and Nepal.

While the company is looking to enter into Bangladesh and Myanmar in segments like fuel retail and LPG marketing, in Vietnam, the focus would be on refining opportunities. “We have already submitted bids for fuel trade in Myanmar. On the other hand, in Vietnam, we are already co-ordinating with the local company to train their refinery staff and the company is looking at investment options in refining,” said B Ashok, chairman.

This comes at a time when the firm has shown interest for an offer by Myanmar Petroleum Products Enterprise to cooperate for import, storage, distribution and sale of all petroleum products except liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas. The tie-up will be for 30-year period and will be in the form of a joint venture. Currently, IOC has marketing subsidiaries in Sri Lanka, Mauritius and West Asia. “We are adding 1,000 retail outlets to our kitty on an annual basis in India only.”

IOC on Tuesday posted a 29 per cent jump in its third quarter net profit on the back of higher refinery margins and inventory gains. Following the government diktat to pay additional dividend to make up for shortfall in disinvestment proceeds, the board of IOC declared an interim dividend of 135 per cent (~13.5 per share).