FTA: India-EFTA to roll out the deal on October 1
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing negotiations between New Delhi and Washington on the proposed bilateral trade deal, the India-EFTA agreement is set to be launched on October 1, the media reported on Monday.
India’s first European trade deal ensures USD 100 billion in investment and tariff cuts, and has the potential to create 1 million jobs over 15 years.
According to reports, the government is holding a mega event to launch the trade agreement between India and the four-member European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which will come into force from October 1 after a one-and-a-half-year wait. It was signed on March 10, 2024.
The event will be held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, key ministers from the EFTA nations, government officials and industry participants are expected to attend the programme, government officials were quoted as saying.
Under the pact, India has received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products, such as Swiss watches, chocolates, and cut and polished diamonds, to be imported into India at lower or zero duties.
“This pact will benefit Indian traders,” he said, adding that these agreements reflect the increasing interest of the developed world towards India. He also called for buying Made in India goods to promote domestic manufacturing.
Goyal said India is currently negotiating FTAs with multiple countries including the US, New Zealand, Oman, Peru, Chile, and the European Union. Qatar and Bahrain too are keen to negotiate trade pacts with India.
In August, India and the EurAsian Economic Union (EAEU) comprising Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Russia signed Terms of Reference (ToR) to launch negotiations on an FTA, he said.
“Talks are going on with the US (for a trade agreement) and are underway with the EU, New Zealand, Oman, Peru and Chile,” he said at the ongoing UP International Trade Show, Greater Noida.
Last week, Goyal led a trade delegation to the US after which the two nations decided to continue talks for early conclusion of a mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement (BTA). He held meetings with United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer and US Ambassador-designate to India Sergio Gor.
In February this year, they planned to conclude the first tranche of the pact by the fall (October-November) of 2025. So far, five rounds of negotiations have been held. The pact is aimed at more than doubling the bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 from the existing USD 191 billion.
The US accounts for about 18 percent of India’s total goods exports, 6.22 percent in imports, and 10.73 percent in the country’s total merchandise trade.
