Will not miss Diwali deadline for India-UK trade deal: Commerce Secretary
New Delhi:
Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam on Saturday said talks for a proposed free trade agreement between India and the UK are in the final stages and the Diwali deadline (in October) will not be missed.
In April, the two sides had set Diwali as the deadline for the conclusion of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
He said, “We are on track (to meet the deadline). We are in the final stage. 19 out of 26 chapters are closed. There are some areas where we are in talks. Diwali deadline is not going to be missed. Is.” Journalists here.
There are talks on some items like cars and spirits from the UK side and some products from the Indian side.
In January, the two countries formally began negotiations for a free trade agreement to boost bilateral trade and investment.
In such agreements, two countries eliminate or significantly reduce customs duties on the maximum number of trade between them, in addition to easing norms to promote trade in investments and services.
India’s main exports to the UK include ready-made garments and textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, petroleum and petrochemical products, transport equipment and parts, spices, metal products, machinery and equipment, pharma and marine items.
Major imports include precious and semi-precious stones, ores and metal scrap, engineering goods, professional equipment, non-ferrous metals, chemicals and machinery.
In the services sector, the UK is one of the largest markets in Europe for Indian IT services. Bilateral trade has increased to $17.5 billion in 2021-22 as compared to $13.2 billion in 2020-21. India’s exports stood at $10.5 billion in 2021-22, while imports stood at $7 billion.
He said that India can see an increase of 10-15 billion dollars in exports from this agreement.
On the proposed trade deal with Canada, the Secretary said that negotiations are on track and two rounds have already been concluded.
“The third round will be held by the end of September and the target is that we will complete it by December,” Subramaniam said.
With the EU, he said the second round would take place now and “we are expecting it (to end) in June-July next year”.
With Australia, he said the trade deal was expected to be approved by his parliament by the end of this month. It was signed in April this year.
“We are expanding our FTAs. FTAs are an important part of our business strategy. It will open up new markets,” he said.