Hand arranged wooden cube blocks with approved signed and word FTA, abbreviation for Free Trade Agreement, and blurred stack of coin on world map background
| Photo Credit:
Ratana21
India hopes to implement its free trade agreements with the UK and the EU in calendar year 2026, by May 1 and November-end respectively, senior official sources have said. But the trade deals with the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council and Israel have taken a back seat due to the on-going West Asia conflict, the officials added.
“Discussions with the UK on the FTA implementation have recently taken place at the top level confirming that the processes are all on track. It is expected that the deal will kick off by April-end or May 1,” an official, tracking the matter, said.
India and the UK signed the deal, officially called the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, in July 2025, and it will come into effect when the UK Parliament approves it.
Eliminating tariffs
Once implemented, the agreement will lead to the UK eliminating tariffs for India on about 99 per cent of tariff lines. Sectors expected to benefit include agriculture, food processing, seafood, textiles, engineering goods, electronics, footwear and gems & jewellery.
India, on the other hand, agreed to give tariff-free access to the UK on 85 per cent of its tariff lines spread over 10 years resulting in significant gains for whisky and liquor, automobiles, advanced manufacturing and agri-food products.
India and the EU announced the conclusion of their FTA talks in January 2026, after about two decades of intermittent negotiations, and hope to implement the pact later this year. “The EU side has indicated that it will be ready to implement the deal by November, or even before,” the official said.
Preferential access
India has gained preferential access to the European markets across 97 per cent of tariff lines and will have immediate duty elimination for important labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather and footwear, tea, coffee, spices, sports goods, toys, gems and jewellery and certain marine products, amongst others, per the Commerce Department.
India’s offer to the EU includes tariff concessions on 92.1 per cent of tariff lines and immediate duty elimination on 49.6 per cent of lines. Duties are to be brought down for items such as European automobiles, wines, spirits and machinery.
Officials indicated that the proposed agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, comprising Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, are seeing limited engagement due to geopolitical tensions disrupting normal economic and diplomatic activity in the region. Similarly, negotiations with Israel, which had gathered pace earlier this year, are now in the back-burner. “Given the current situation in West Asia, it is natural that both sides are focused on more immediate concerns,” the official said.
Published on March 19, 2026