Free trade agreements of India

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India is party to free trade agreements (FTAs) and other trade agreements with many countries and trade blocs, and is negotiating with many others. As of 2022, India has preferential access, economic cooperation and FTA with more than 50 individual countries.

Contents

The negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates were completed in 88 days, which was the shortest time span for any free trade agreement signed by India. [1]

Overview

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India
Free trade areas
Agreement being negotiated India-FTA.svg
  India
  Free trade areas
  Agreement being negotiated

There are different types of trade agreements that enable preferential market access between India and signatory countries or trade blocs - preferential trade agreements (PTA), free trade agreements (FTA), and Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreements (CECA) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPA). [2]

A preferential trade agreement (PTA) involves two or more partners agreeing to reduce tariffs on an agreed number of tariff lines (products). The list of products on which the partners agree to reduce duty is called the positive list. In general, PTAs do not cover substantially all trade. The India Mercosur Preferential Trade Agreement is an example of a PTA. [2]

A free trade agreement (FTA) also involves reducing or eliminating tariffs on items traded between the partner countries; however each maintains individual tariff structure for non-members. The key difference between an FTA and a PTA is that PTAs have a positive list of products on which duty is to be reduced, while an FTA uses a negative list on which duty is not reduced or eliminated. Thus, compared to a PTA, FTAs are generally more ambitious in coverage of tariff lines on which duty is to be reduced. The India Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement is an example of an FTA. [2]

Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are agreements which consist of an integrated package on goods, services and investment, as well as trade facilitation and rule-making in areas such as intellectual property, government procurement, technical standards and sanitary and phytosanitary issues. The India Korea CEPA is one such example and it covers a broad range of other areas such trade facilitation, customs cooperation, investment, competition, intellectual property rights etc. CECA/CEPAs are more comprehensive and ambitious than FTAs in terms of coverage of areas and the type of commitments. While a traditional FTA focuses mainly on goods, a CECA/CEPA provides holistic coverage of many areas like services, investment, competition, government procurement, disputes etc. Further, a CECA/CEPA looks deeper into the regulatory aspects of trade than an FTA. Due to this, it encompasses mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) that cover the regulatory regimes of the partners. An MRA recognises different regulatory regimes of partners on the presumption that they achieve the same end objectives. [2]

Bilateral agreements

CountryAgreement nameTypeSignedEffectiveRef.
Flag of the Taliban.svg Afghanistan Afghanistan–India Preferential Trade AgreementPTA6 March 200313 May 2003 [3] [4]
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia Australia–India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (AI-CECA)CECA2 April 202229 December 2022 [5] [6]
Flag of Chile.svg Chile Chile–India Preferential Trade AgreementPTA8 March 200611 September 2007 [7] [8]
Flag of Japan.svg Japan India–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (JICEPA)CEPA16 February 20111 August 2011 [7]
Flag of Malaysia.svg Malaysia India–Malaysia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (IMCECA)CECA8 February 20111 July 2011 [7]
Flag of Mauritius.svg Mauritius India–Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership AgreementCECPA22 February 20211 April 2021 [7]
Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore India–Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation AgreementCECA29 June 20051 August 2005 [7]
Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea India–Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IKCEPA)CEPA7 August 20091 January 2010 [7]
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka India–Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA)FTA28 December 19981 March 2000 [9]
Flag of Thailand.svg Thailand India–Thailand Free Trade AgreementFTA9 October 20031 September 2006 [7]
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg United Arab Emirates India–United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership AgreementCEPA18 February 20221 May 2022 [10] [11]
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom India–United Kingdom Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement FTA24 July 2025 [12] [13]

Under negotiation

Proposed

Multilateral agreements

Agreement nameTypeCountries/Trading BlocSignedEffectiveRef.
Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement PTABangladesh, China, Laos, Mongolia, South Korea, and Sri Lanka1975
ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement CECAInfobox ASEAN flag.svg ASEAN 13 August 20091 January 2010 [7]
ASEAN-India Trade in Services Agreement November 20141 July 2015 [7] [20]
ASEAN-India Investment Agreement November 20141 July 2015 [7] [20]
Global System of Trade Preferences PTA41 countries13 April 198819 April 1989
India–Mercosur Preferential Trade AgreementPTAFlag of Mercosur.svg Mercosur 25 January 20041 June 2009 [7]
South Asia Free Trade Agreement FTA South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation 6 January 20041 January 2006
India–EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership AgreementTEPAEFTA logo.svg European Free Trade Association 10 March 2024

Under negotiation

Abandoned proposals

See also

References

Green copyright.svg This article incorporates text from Free Trade Agreements Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) , which is a copyrighted work of the Government of India, licensed under the Government Open Data License - India (GODL).

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  12. Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street; HM Treasury; Cabinet Office; Starmer, Keir (23 July 2025). "Prime Minister secures thousands of British jobs and £6 billion in investment and export wins as historic trade deal with India signed". GOV.UK (Press release). Archived from the original on 23 July 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. Pickard, Jim; Reed, John (24 July 2025). "Keir Starmer and Narendra Modi to sign UK-India trade deal" . Financial Times . London; New Delhi. Archived from the original on 23 July 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
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  16. https://economictimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/india-oman-free-trade-agreement-likely-to-be-inked-next-month-official/amp_articleshow/106296361.cms&ved=2ahUKEwjL743fi8aDAxXo-DgGHZZdBh8QFnoECCIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0HdcbePNkhEQCrZS5pYVnN.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[ dead link ]
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  21. "India, Russia-led Eurasian bloc to begin negotiations on FTA soon". 27 December 2023.
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  23. "India, GCC Agree To Pursue Free Trade Agreement; Resume Talks: Piyush Goyal". Outlook. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
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