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India-EFTA trade deal to take effect from Oct 1: Minister Piyush Goyal

21 Jul '25
2 min read
India-EFTA trade deal to take effect from Oct 1: Minister Piyush Goyal
Pic: Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.comAlexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.co

Insights

  • A trade and economic partnership agreement with the European Free Trade Association will be implemented from October 1, making several items more affordable for Indians, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal recently told an event in Mumbai.
  • The bloc has committed to investing $100 billion in India over 15 years.
  • The pact is expected to help create a million direct jobs in India.
A trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)—comprising Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland—will be implemented from October 1, making several items more affordable for Indians, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal recently told an event in Mumbai.

“India-EFTA TEPA to come into effect from 1st October,” Goyal posted on microblogging platform X.

The free trade agreement was signed on March 10 this year after around 16 years of negotiations.

The EFTA bloc has committed to investing $100 billion in India over 15 years, a news agency reported. The investment will be split into two phases: $50 billion over the first 10 years and another $50 billion in the following five years. The pact is expected to help create one million direct jobs in India.

In exchange, India has offered concessions on 82.7 per cent of its tariff lines, which cover 95.3 per cent of EFTA’s exports. Switzerland is India’s largest trading partner within the bloc, while trade volumes with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein remain limited.

The services sector is another key component of the TEPA.

India would only sign agreements that ‘serve national interest’ as hectic negotiations continued for a bilateral trade deal with the United States, Goyal reiterated at the event.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)

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