The Indian government is set to request that the cap on skilled workers being issued visas for work in the United States be raised so as to benefit bilateral trade.

With the Asian country continuing to produce thousands of IT specialists a year, demand for the US H-1B visas is on the rise, with a number of leading technology firms keen to send professionals to the States to work for subsidiaries there.

As such, with demand for the visas outstripping supply, it is anticipated that the Indian government will ask its US counterpart for availability to be put up when the two countries meet for a trade forum in New Delhi towards the end of October.

"The number of world-wide H-1B visas issued to professionals was reduced by more than half to 65,000 per year about two years back," a government official told India's Economic Times.

"This has affected the functioning of Indian companies in the US, especially ones in the IT sector."

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa, allowing US-based firms to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations for up to six years.