Negotiations for India-EU free trade pact concluded: Commerce secretary

NEgotiators of bharat and the European unification feature successfully concluded an challenging, balanced, forward-looking and reciprocally beneficial India-EU free trade agreement (FTA) and the leaders of the two sides are set to announce the development on Tuesday.“Official level negotiations are being concluded, and both sides are all set to announce the successful conclusion of FTA talks on 27th January,” commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal confirmed on Monday.European Council president Antonio Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who are in India as chief guests for Republic Day celebrations, are expected to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi in announcing the conclusion of FTA negotiations after the 16th India-EU Summit on Tuesday, people close to the development said, asking not to be named.The announcement will end negotiations that were relaunched in June 2022 after a hiatus of almost nine years. Exporters and industries on both sides will have time to prepare for new opportunities as the deal is expected to be operational by early next year, they said. The FTA has been described as the “mother of all deals” as it would represent 25% of the world’s gross domestic product and integrate a market of over 1.9 billion consumers.HT on January 24 reported that the “trade pact may allow duty-free access to over 90% of Indian goods” in the vast EU market, which has 27 member countries, including, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Belgium.The pact would remove tariff and non-tariff barriers on more than 90% of Indian goods, with labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, chemicals, electronics and jewellery expected to benefit the most as they do not compete with European manufacturers, as reported by HT on Sunday. India’s exporters currently face stiff competition from duty-free and quota-free shipments from least developed countries such as Bangladesh. “Once the proposed FTA is implemented, this duty disadvantage will end,” one person said.India’s exports to the 27-member EU jumped over 16% in November 2025 to $6.26 billion (nearly ₹52,584 crore) compared to $5.4 billion (nearly ₹45,360 crore) in November 2024. However, exports fell 3.97% cumulatively to $48.99 billion in April-November 2025 from $51.01 billion in the same period of 2024, according to official data.For the EU, India represents a stable market registering sustained growth. Imports from the EU rose 11.7% to $5.42 billion in November 2025 compared to $4.85 billion in November 2024. Cumulatively, imports from the EU rose 11.66% to $44.31 billion in April-November 2025 compared to $39.69 billion in the same period of 2024.