According to filings with the US Lobbying Act Disclosure Database, Wipro spent about $460,000 on lobbying in the US, and
But what was the need for lobbying? Indian IT firms were under tremendous pressure last year against certain immigration proposals that threatened to significantly increase their cost of doing business in the US. Eventually, these provisions were struck or watered down in the final version of the landmark immigration reform that US President
According to an Economic Times report, the need for lobbying also increased because of outcry in the US against outsourcing of jobs to cheaper, third-world destinations such as India.
Further, Teaneck, New Jersey-based
In 2013, Cognizant spent $2.07 million on trying to influence US lawmakers, while Infosys spent less than $5,000. But later, Infosys was slapped with a $35-million fine by the US government in a case related to visa misuse.
So far this year, Cognizant has spent about $180,000 on lobbying in the US, compared to about $20,000 each by TCS and Wipro, according to data available on Lobbying Disclosure website.
Lobbying is institutionalised in the US where large offshore companies such as TCS and Infosys constantly strive for the support of lawmakers, but they are required to disclose how much they spend on such efforts.
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