JPMorgan Sees India as Bright Spot Despite Global Headwinds

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has highlighted India as a bright spot due to its robust domestic growth and limited reliance on exports. At the bank's annual India conference, Sjoerd Leenart, head of JPMorgan in Asia Pacific, said while challenges like tariffs and a recent $100,000 H-1B visa fee would hang large over sentiment, "India still has a strong hand to play."

India, meanwhile, has recently announced a 25% reciprocal tax, doubled due to tariffs related to Russian oil imports, as have the company has just implemented a US$100,000 entry fee for new H-1B visas signed by President Donald Trump, which is concerning due to the fact that over 70% of H-1B visas in the US are held by Indian nationals. Current H-1B visa holders are not affected by the changes.

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Industry executives have expressed concerns about increasing costs for US companies, which may lead to speeding up the growth of global capability centres in India. JPMorgan has also been growing its headcount in India, increasing it by 20% over the last two years. The company now has corporate centers in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad employing over 55,000 people to support technology and business processes across the firm globally.

Anu Aiyengar, the firm’s global head of advisory and M&A, highlighted India’s rising equity market, noting JPMorgan is preparing more IPOs in India than in any other market this year. “I would not put a limit based on last year, this is a growing market,” she said, signaling India’s capital markets could surpass last year’s performance by a wide margin.