India, EU have agreed to sign free trade deal by end-2026: Piyush Goyal

India and the European Union have agreed to sign their long-pending Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of 2026, with the pact expected to come into force by February or March 2027, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.Speaking at the India-Finland Business Round Table in Helsinki, Goyal said the agreement would create significant opportunities for businesses on both sides. Together, India and the 27-member European Union represent a market of nearly 2 billion people, accounting for about 25% of global GDP and one-third of global trade.The proposed agreement, often described as the “mother of all trade deals” because negotiations have stretched over two decades, is expected to substantially expand trade between the two economies.India and the EU announced the conclusion of negotiations on January 27. Under the agreement, around 93% of Indian exports will receive duty-free access to the European market.The European Union, meanwhile, expects the pact to double its goods exports to India by 2032. The agreement will eliminate or reduce tariffs on 96.6% of EU goods exports to India, saving European exporters an estimated €4 billion annually in duties.The FTA will also lower tariffs on a range of European agricultural and food products. Import duties on wines, currently as high as 150%, will be reduced to 75% initially and eventually to as low as 20%. Tariffs on processed food products such as bread and confectionery will also be phased out, while European companies will gain wider access to India’s services market.During his visit to Finland, Goyal also held bilateral talks with Finland’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Dr. Sakari Puisto, on expanding cooperation in financial markets, innovation, enterprise financing, and bilateral trade and investment.The visit also saw the signing of two institutional memoranda of understanding (MoUs), ministerial-level discussions and meetings between Indian and Finnish businesses across several sectors. Goyal invited Finnish companies to invest in India’s clean energy, biotechnology and energy storage sectors.

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