There are 2,000 foreigners working in the Indian IT-enabled services sector in which a total of 350,000 people are employed, Rajya Sabha was told on Thursday.
Shakeel Ahmad, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, said that only such foreigners who are skilled and qualified professionals, being engaged or appointed by a company or organisation, are eligible to get employment visas.
He said a request for employment visa for a job for which a large number of qualified Indians are available is not to be considered for granting visa, he said.
Ahmed said the work at call centres would go up if their business order increases.
To a query, he said there were 200,000 Indian IT professionals engaged in the United States.
The minister said IT exports from India have touched $17.2 billion in value terms this year as against $12.5 billion last year.
