Explore Business Standard
FTA In India
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said India is finalising free trade agreements (FTAs) only after extensive consultations with all the concerned stakeholders. He said that unlike in the past, these pacts are now fair, equitable and balanced. "We are not doing FTAs like in the past. Every agreement is after extensive stakeholder consultation," he said at the Thuglak Annual Meet in Chennai. Citing the agreement with the four-European nation bloc EFTA, he said that for the first time in the history of FTAs, India has received a commitment of USD 100 billion FDI (foreign direct investment) in this pact. The Modi government has implemented these pacts with countries like Australia and the UAE. He also said that India's decision to opt out of RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement) demonstrates its commitment to safeguarding national interests. "It was not in the interest of MSMEs, and it would have opened a floodgate for Chinese goods into the country
India and the UK are expected to hold the next round of talks for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) in January to resolve the pending issues and close the negotiations, a senior official said on Thursday. The talks for the proposed FTA began in January 2022. The 14th round of talks stalled as the two nations stepped into their general election cycles. In November, an official statement said that the dates for the FTA talks in early 2025 would be finalised through diplomatic channels. The negotiations would resume the discussions from the progress achieved previously and seek to bridge the gaps for expeditiously closing the trade deal. The next round of talks is likely to start at January-end, the official said. The Indian industry is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals from sectors like IT and healthcare in the UK market, besides market access for several goods at nil customs duty. On the other hand, the UK is seeking a significant cut in import duties on g
Senior officials of India and Australia have reviewed the progress of talks on the proposed free trade agreement between the two countries, the commerce ministry said on Monday. The two countries had implemented an interim trade pact in December 2022 and now they are negotiating to widen the scope of the pact for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). "The three-day stocktake visit for the India-Australia CECA concluded in New Delhi on December 6," the ministry said. The stocktake discussions covered several critical areas of the agreement, including trade in goods, services, mobility, agri-tech cooperation, and more. "The discussions also centered on market access modalities that align with India's food security objectives," it said. Both parties evaluated the progress made so far and outlined a path forward for the early conclusion of the CECA. The Indian delegation was headed by Additional Secretary and Chief Negotiator, Department of Commerce, Rajesh Agrawal,
India may seek flexibility in the existing tariff concessions in sectors which are impacted by significant increase in imports, under the free trade agreement (FTA) review with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an official said. The ASEAN official team is visiting India for the next round of review negotiations, which will start from November 19-22 here. The ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) was signed in 2009. "We may seek some flexibility in the tariff (or customs duty) concessions that have been given in the agreement. Some of the concessions can be taken back and can be given somewhere else because in some sectors we feel our domestic industry is badly getting hurt. We have domestic injuries in some sectors. We would like to do that in a minimum possible way," the official said. The domestic steel industry has time and again flagged concerns over a significant increase in imports from countries like China and misuse of FTA with ASEAN. In
Steps such as increasing exports, making local currency trading workable and a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union will help boost trade between India and Russia, think tank GTRI said on Thursday. India should not worry over the trade deficit, as it is getting crude petroleum oil at cheaper than market rates from Russia and it is also cutting India's overall oil import bill, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said. Since the Ukraine war began in February 2022 and the US imposed sanctions on Russia, the trade relationship between India and Russia has shifted significantly. There has been a sharp increase in imports from Russia, resulting in a notable trade imbalance. Exports during the financial year 2020-21 and 2023-24 grew by 59 per cent, while imports surged by about 8,300 per cent, the report said, adding the trade deficit rose from USD 2.8 billion before the war in 2020-21 to USD 57.2 billion at present. It said that the import surge is solely due to
As the campaign for the UK general election gathers momentum after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak surprised many this week with a snap summer poll on July 4, exactly a month after India's election results on June 4, the prospect of an India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) has been kicked into the long grass. While political analysts and strategic experts have expressed confidence that very little should change on the bilateral relationship front whatever the outcome in either election, the very small window that was open for a deal being clinched by the Sunak-led Tory government has now been swept away in the election wave of both countries. The Opposition Labour Party, in the lead in most pre-election surveys, has committed itself to finish the job but the timelines will remain uncertain for some time. Rishi Sunak's shock poll date announcement of July 4 has skewered any prospect of the finalisation of the long-awaited and much-anticipated FTA with India by a Conservative ...
Customs duty concession demand on petrochemical products such as polypropylene and polyethylene, used primarily in the plastics industry, may act as a sticking point in the early conclusion of talks for the proposed free-trade agreement (FTA) between India and Oman, according to an official. Negotiations for the pact, officially dubbed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), are in the last phase. Certain domestic players from both public and private sectors are opposing duty concessions on these products under the agreement. They are claiming that Oman provides huge subsidies to its industry on raw materials for the production of these petrochemical products. According to them, if India would give duty concessions on these already subsidised products, it would be a double advantage for Omani firms. The government official said that they are holding talks with domestic players on the issue. Officials of the two countries concluded the second round of talks for th
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday took strong objection to those criticising New Delhi for delays in firming up the proposed free trade agreement with the UK and said careful scrutiny is required as such pacts could impact livelihoods of people. "I hear this naysayers' narrative coming back -- why isn't India quickly signing up (the FTA) with the UK? Nobody says why isn't the UK quickly signing up with India? So somewhere, it is like we have to make that accommodation," he said. The external affairs minister was speaking at a book release ceremony. India and the UK have been holding negotiations to firm up an ambitious FTA. The two sides are learnt to have finalised over 20 out of 26 chapters in the FTA and are now looking at sealing it by bridging differences on certain contentious issues including mobility of people and import duty concessions on certain items. In April last year, the two sides had set a Diwali deadline for concluding the free trade agreement but
India and the UK officials in January next year will hold the next round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) to resolve remaining issues, the commerce ministry said on Monday. The 13th round of negotiations for the proposed pact was held between September 18 and December 15. "The UK and India will continue to negotiate towards a comprehensive and ambitious Free Trade Agreement. The fourteenth round of negotiations will take place in January 2024," the ministry said in a statement. These negotiations focussed on complex issues including goods, services, and investment. An Indian team was in London recently. Issues which need to be resolved include duty cuts on electric vehicles and whiskey and the movement of professionals. Talks are also progressing on the proposed bilateral investment treaty (BIT). India and the UK launched the talks for a free-trade agreement (FTA) in January 2022, to conclude talks by Diwali (October 24, 2022), but the deadline was missed due
Senior officials from British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's team are in New Delhi this week to add momentum behind the ongoing round of negotiations for an India-UK free trade agreement (FTA), according to a UK media report on Saturday. The Guardian' newspaper reports that while there is no official comment from either side on such a visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is keen to finalise the FTA by the end of February before Sunak sets off on an expected general election campaign trail. Both countries are heading into an election year in 2024 and signing off on a trade agreement with India will bolster Sunak's electoral pitch to voters showing signs of anti-incumbency towards his governing Conservatives. The deal is still very much on and we think it is possible before both countries have their elections. Both sides are keen to get this done, an official close to the talks told the newspaper. The India-UK FTA talks began in January last year with Diwali 2022 set as t