India is looking to capitalize on growing discontent among skilled professionals in the United States following President Donald Trump's decision to raise H-1B visa fees to $100,000, a move that has rattled thousands of Indian tech workers. Policymakers in New Delhi are now exploring ways to lure some of these expatriates back home, hoping to trigger a "reverse brain drain" that would strengthen India's innovation economy.
Officials close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi have hinted that the government is actively encouraging overseas Indians to return and "contribute to nation-building." Members of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council say the sharp rise in H-1B fees, which they view as favoring the U.S. over foreign workers, could actually benefit India by attracting top-tier professionals back to its expanding technology and research sectors.
Some early signs of this shift are already visible. Nithin Hassan, a former Meta executive who earned over $1 million annually in the U.S., left Silicon Valley to move to Bengaluru last year. He launched two startups, including "Back to India" (B2I), a platform that helps returning Indians manage the emotional, financial, and professional challenges of relocation. Hassan said that since Trump's second term began, inquiries from Indians abroad have nearly tripled, with more than 200 non-resident Indians contacting his company in the past six months alone.
Recruiters have noticed a similar trend. Shivani Desai, CEO of BDO Executive Search, told the BBC that the number of Indian students from Ivy League schools looking to return has increased by 30% this year. Senior executives, too, are reassessing their long-term future in the U.S., particularly as visa uncertainty deepens. The rapid expansion of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) -- offshore offices for multinational corporations -- has created new opportunities for returning professionals, with firms like Franklin Templeton calling India's GCC boom a "major draw for global talent."
However, experts warn that reversing decades of outward migration will require more than just opportunity -- it demands serious reform. Sanjaya Baru, former media adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and author of Secession of the Successful, argues that the government must take a proactive approach, directly identifying and recruiting top global Indian professionals, as Jawaharlal Nehru once did when building India's scientific institutions.
Baru and others caution that deep-rooted issues -- ranging from bureaucracy and complex tax rules to crumbling urban infrastructure -- remain powerful deterrents. Despite its ambition to attract talent, India continues to lose high-net-worth individuals at record rates; over 500,000 citizens have renounced their Indian passports since 2020. Meanwhile, nations like Germany have seized the opportunity, rolling out streamlined immigration programs to welcome skilled Indian workers.
Hassan believes India can only succeed if it addresses multiple pain points simultaneously: simplifying tax laws, improving city infrastructure, and investing heavily in education and research. Without such reforms, he warns, many of India's brightest minds may continue to see opportunity -- and stability -- beyond its borders.