In contrast to most economies that industrialised, which moved from agriculture to manufacturing, then to services, becoming the dominant part of output, India has taken on the middle, manufacturing-intensive, stage of development. Services today account for 50-55 percent of GDP (the Economic Survey 2025-26 puts the share of services in GDP in H1 FY26 at 53.6 percent of the gross value added), but manufacturing has stubbornly remained at 15-17 percent of GDP for three decades

The H-1B visa program started with the Immigration Act of 1990. This law created a type of visa that lets U.S. companies hire foreign workers in jobs that need at least a college degree or something similar in areas like science, technology, engineering, and math. At first, there was a limit of 65,000 visas each year. The goal was to fill gaps in skilled workers needed in the American job market. Illustration by The Geostrata Over time, most of the H-1B visas went to people f