{"id":45756,"date":"2026-07-03T21:41:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T21:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/45756\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T21:41:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T21:41:18","slug":"france-and-india-strengthen-luxury-ties-ahead-of-eu-india-trade-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/45756\/","title":{"rendered":"France and India Strengthen Luxury Ties Ahead of EU-India Trade Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tPARIS \u2014 France and India<\/a>\u2019s luxury trade organizations are bolstering their ties ahead of a historic trade agreement that promises to wipe out around 4 billion euros a year in duties on European products.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tB\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Epinay, chief executive officer of Comit\u00e9 Colbert<\/a>, and Payal Kanwar, director general of the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or IFCCI, this week signed a memorandum of understanding cementing their ongoing cooperation efforts aimed at boosting bilateral trade after years of frustrated expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI truly believe that the time has come for us to write India<\/a>\u2019s new script,\u201d Epinay told a symposium in Paris that gathered a cross-section of government officials, luxury and retail executives, Indian suppliers and designers.<\/p>\n

\n\tKanwar said a shift was underway, as the openings of locations like Mumbai\u2019s Jio World Plaza luxury mall<\/a> transform the local retail landscape in the world\u2019s fifth-largest economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s something different in the air whenever I meet companies and businesses,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s a new excitement and there\u2019s a renewed momentum when French businesses are looking at India, or Indian businesses are looking at France, and especially in this space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe main topic of conversation was the free trade agreement, or FTA, between the European Union<\/a> and India, which is expected to come into effect in late 2026 or early 2027 after a framework was concluded in January, capping almost two decades of negotiations.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Marc-Antoine<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMarc-Antoine Jamet, Sanjeev Singla, B\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Epinay, Payal Kanwar and \u00c9l\u00e9onore Caroit.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Comit\u00e9 Colbert<\/p>\n

\n\tThe deal is expected to double exports of EU goods to India by 2032 by eliminating or reducing tariffs on 96.6 percent of merchandise \u2014 the biggest tariff reductions that India has ever granted to a trading partner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile luxury goods account for just a fraction of European exports to India, companies like sector leader LVMH Mo\u00ebt Hennessy Louis Vuitton are betting on the country\u2019s burgeoning middle class, estimated at 400 million people, to help them out of a prolonged slump.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tThe Place to Be\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLVMH wants to do more in India, to do more with India, to do more for India,\u201d Marc-Antoine Jamet, secretary general of LVMH, told the gathering. \u201cI guarantee we will look at every opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDescribing India as \u201cthe fastest-growing luxury market in the world,\u201d he said the FTA would not only eliminate tariffs, but also help companies cut through red tape.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIndia is really the place to be, and the good news is that we are already there with a network of boutiques just waiting to grow across the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut he noted that LVMH directly employs only 300 people in India, versus 45,000 in the U.S. and 25,000 in China, underscoring the road ahead. \u201cWe are too small. We are too weak. We are not visited enough. I dream of an India in which we have as many shops as we have in the U.S.,\u201d Jamet said.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLVMH Mo\u00ebt Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which owns Bulgari, is looking to expand in India\u2019s luxury market. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn an interview with WWD, Epinay and Kanwar outlined a number of joint initiatives designed to deepen mutual knowledge and understanding, and smooth dialogue between foreign companies and Indian authorities. In the last three years they have organized several conferences in India and France to highlight opportunities.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe realized that many luxury CEOs hadn\u2019t visited India for some time, and that it might be useful to talk about the India of today and show how it has evolved,\u201d Epinay said.<\/p>\n

\n\tLVMH is already a big consumer of Indian raw materials, like cotton, and craftsmanship, such as embroidery, he said. \u201cWe want to go beyond simply being present,\u201d Jamet insisted. \u201cWe want our maisons to embrace local craft and local sensibilities to make India part of who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMost existing Indian tariffs on textiles and clothing will be lifted the moment the FTA comes into effect, while the current 22 percent levies on cosmetics will be phased out over five to seven years, she noted.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt may be a sales opportunity for brands, but it also means increased competitiveness for India as a sourcing and subcontracting hub, so it\u2019s actually a win-win situation,\u201d Epinay said.<\/p>\n

\n\tWines and spirits stand to be among the major beneficiaries. The tariffs on wine will immediately be halved from a prohibitive 150 percent to 75 percent, gradually decreasing over seven years to 20 percent or 30 percent, depending on the price category.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\tOpen Door\t<\/p>\n

\n\tKanwar said the IFCCI, which has a staff of 40, launched a dedicated luxury committee some three years ago in response to signs of growing interest in the Indian market. Signals included the appointment of Leena Nair as global CEO of Chanel in 2022, and Dior\u2019s pre-fall show in Mumbai<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe country\u2019s retail market is estimated at around $950 billion today and is expected to reach $2 trillion by 2032, according to the Boston Consulting Group.<\/p>\n

\n\tYet foreign retailers must negotiate a complex foreign direct investment (FDI) framework, which treats single-brand and multibrand retail as fundamentally different investment categories, each with its own FDI cap, approval route, sourcing mandates and operational conditions.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cToday, the multibrand segment remains a challenge,\u201d Kanwar acknowledged. \u201cHowever, for single-brand operations, 100 percent FDI is now allowed. A growing number of brands in India are regaining their independence. Some have parted ways with their Indian partners to go solo \u2014 a major shift in recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGaleries Lafayette in Mumbai.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Galeries Lafayette<\/p>\n

\n\tShe added that the arrival of French department store chain Galeries Lafayette in Mumbai \u201csends a very strong, encouraging signal for the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother major hurdle foreign firms face is obtaining product certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFor brands that sometimes have to wait six or nine months to obtain a license, is it possible to expedite matters? These are the kinds of discussions we are currently having with the authorities to effectively support these companies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, the European Union<\/a> represents a major market not just for Indian suppliers, but also homegrown luxury brands including couturiers like Gaurav Gupta, Vaishali S and Manish Malhotra, who show at Paris Couture Week, and jewelers like Aneka.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs a result, France and India have the potential to cocreate the next chapter of global luxury, said Sanjeev Singla, India\u2019s ambassador to France. \u201cPlease rest assured that our doors are open,\u201d he said. \u201cYou are actually pushing against an open door.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS \u2014 France and India\u2019s luxury trade organizations are bolstering their ties ahead of a historic trade agreement…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17823,430,5,747,12453],"class_list":["post-45756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-france","tag-comitu00e9-colbert","tag-european-union","tag-france","tag-india","tag-trade-agreements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}