The US decision to lower the number of H-1B visas from 195,000 to 65,000 a year, has prompted the Indian government to seek a higher quota of such visas for the country.

While a delegation of the ministry of information technology, which is in the United States at present, is expected to take up the issue with its American counterpart, the commerce ministry is pushing for higher quotas at the World Trade Organisation's services negotiations, currently underway in Geneva.

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"In line with our demand for greater movement of natural persons under the services negotiations, we will seek a more flexible visa regime," an official said.

Under the General Agreement on Trade in Services, the US had committed to issue 65,000 H-1B (temporary skilled worker) visas a year.

Commerce ministry officials said the recent US decision to reduce the number of H-1B visas could not be challenged as Washington had earlier unilaterally increased the number of such visas to over 195,000 a year.

India has been using a bulk of the H-1B visas issued by the US in the last few years. For instance, of the 195,000 H-1B visas issued in 2001, 77,000 were issued to Indians.

India has a quota of 80,000 H-1B visas. The number, however, decreased to 33,000 in 2002 and it is expected to come down further to 30,000 this year.

The National Association of Software and Service Companies had earlier said the Indian software sector preferred an easing of the cap on H-1B visas to a more realistic level of 120,000.

"The limits should be more realistic. It should neither be so high that the visas remain unused, nor so less that the companies are unable to send people on projects," a Nasscom official said.

The US is the biggest market for India's software exports, accounting for 71 per cent of the country's total software exports.

The Indian software industry is of the opinion that a reduction in the number of H-1B visas can hurt its interests, with small and medium companies facing the brunt of the curbs.