India and Norway on Sunday held discussions to identify areas where investments can be channelled under the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) that was signed between India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in March this year.
Areas for investments which were explored at the meeting of India-Norway business roundtable in Mumbai included logistics, supply chain, connectivity, maritime, energy, circular economy, food and agri, infrastructure and technology.
Norway is one of the key members of the EFTA which also includes Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal led the Indian delegation while the Norwegian side was headed by ambassador of Norway to India May-Elin Stener.
Stener noted Norway’s plans to ratify TEPA by 2025 and emphasised areas of focus like renewable energy, maritime industries, climate and sustainability.
Businesses from India under the umbrella of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and others important for the India-Norway corridor also participated in the discussions, apart from business leaders from Norway.
The TEPA has an investment commitment from the EFTA members in exchange for lower tariffs on their goods exported to India. The four-nation economic bloc will collectively invest $100 billion in India over the next 15 years, generating one million jobs. The investment that would count towards the commitment is foreign direct investment. Portfolio investments are out of this.
Discussions were also held on the current business climate in India and key government reforms and policies. If investments do not materialise, India can roll back tariff concessions after a mutual review.
The two sides also held wide-ranging discussions on all aspects of the bilateral trade partnership to further strengthen cross-border infrastructure, enhance connectivity and facilitate trade.
The EFTA has offered 92.2% of its tariff lines which cover 99.6% of India’s exports for lower duties in the TEPA. The EFTA’s market access offer covers 100% of non-agri products and tariff concession on processed agricultural products.
India is offering 82.7% of its tariff lines which covers 95.3% of EFTA exports of which more than 80% import is gold. The effective duty on gold remains untouched. Sectors such as dairy, soya, coal and sensitive agricultural products are kept in the exclusion list.
India runs a huge trade deficit with EFTA countries. India’s exports to EFTA were $1.94 billion in 2023-24, up 0.8% on year, while its imports were $22 billion, up 31%. Of total imports from the EFTA, Switzerland alone accounted for $21.2 billion. Gold and precious stones accounted for $18 billion of the total imports from the region.