Indian benchmark indices started Monday on a negative note as IT stocks fell sharply following the US administration’s decision to raise H-1B visa fees to $100,000.
At the opening bell, Nifty 50 was at 25,229.70, down 97 points or 0.38%, and BSE Sensex stood at 82,279.92, down 346 points or 0.42%. Later, by 11:00 am IST, the Nifty 50 recovered slightly and was above the 25,300 mark, and the Sensex was trading above the 82,500 mark.
The Nifty IT index dropped more than 2.5% on Monday, September 22, with all its constituents trading in the red. On a year-to-date basis, the index has already declined 17.90%.
Indian IT stocks fell on Monday, September 22, 2025, after the US government imposed a sharp hike in H-1B visa fees, introducing a $100,000 one-time payment for new applications. The move has raised concerns over profitability and business prospects for Indian IT companies that depend on sending employees onsite to the US
The move triggered immediate declines up to 5% in stocks such as TCS, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, HCLTech, and Coforge, pulling the Nifty IT Index down by roughly 2.5% in early trade and weighing on frontline indices Sensex and Nifty.
Mphasis led the losses among IT stocks, with its share price falling 5.91% to hit the day’s low. As of 11:08 AM IST, the stock price was trading at 2,862.70 per share, down by 4.38%. Although it recovered slightly from the 50-day EMA, the stock recorded its largest intraday drop since April 7, 2025.
On September 22, Mphasis, in an exchange filing, stated that it does not foresee any significant impact on its financials or operations due to the H-1B Visa fee hike, given how low its H-1B filing volume is, along with the relative portion of its US employees that are on such a visa. In CY2025, the company only had 130 new H-1B filings, of which it has received 78 new approvals till date.
Persistent System emerged as the 2nd biggest loser in the Nifty IT index on Monday. Its share price fell 4.57% by 11:19 AM IST, marking the steepest decline in the past two months. Year-to-date, the stock is down over 18% and has slipped below its 200-day EMA.
Persistent Systems, which derives a significant amount of revenue from the US market, highlighted that based on their current assessment, they do not expect any significant impact of the executive order on their operations or financials.
Coforge was the third-biggest loser in the IT sector on Monday. By 11:25 AM IST, Coforge's share price tumbled by 4.31%. The stock also slipped below its 50-day EMA.
In an exchange filing, Coforge stated that the United States accounted for 53% of its total revenue in FY2025. During the year, the company filed 65 new H-1B visa petitions, of which 63 were approved by the USCIS.
The share price of LTIMindtree declined by 4.22% to ₹5,260 in Monday's trading session. The stock is also a constituent of the Nifty Next 50 index. The stock price recorded its highest intraday decline since April 4, 2025.
Other major IT stocks, Oracle Financial Services Software was down 0.61%, HCL Technologies fell 1.92%, Wipro declined 2.34%, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) dropped 2.53%, Infosys slipped 2.57%, and Tech Mahindra saw a fall of 3.67%.
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