Govt to hold 1,000 stakeholder meetings, workshops, outreach programmes on India-UK trade agreement

New Delhi: The government will organise as many as 1,000 outreach programmes, including stakeholder meetings, workshops, awareness drives and feedback sessions, in the next 20 days across the country to sensitise industry and states on the India-UK trade agreement, sources said.

The exercise is aimed at ensuring effective implementation and maximising benefits from the comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA), which was signed on July 24.

They said that there is a plan to hold sector-wise outreach programmes. Respective line ministries will also hold programmes on the agreement.

Teams will also visit different states to inform them about the benefits of this trade agreement.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will hold a meeting with the leather and textiles sector on the trade pact here on Monday.

Goyal on July 26 said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already instructed him to talk to specific industry segments that will become far more competitive now after the implementation of this pact.

"I will be having sectoral meetings with every sector till the Parliament is going on and after that I will go to all states," he has said.

Bhagalpur silk (Bihar), Pashmina shawls (Jammu and Kashmir), Kolhapuri chappal (Maharashtra), and Thanjavur dolls (Tamil Nadu) will now prominently appear on shelves in malls and shops across Britain, as the India-UK free trade agreement will provide duty concessions to a host of traditional products manufactured here.

Other such goods, which will benefit from the pact, include Baluchari sarees (West Bengal), Bandhini (Gujarati tie-dye textile art), Kanchipuram sarees, and Tiruppur knitwear.

The minister will also travel to Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and talk to the fishermen community about the opportunity that this pact opens for them.

"I will visit tech centres of Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, Gurugram (and inform) how the double contribution convention pact (DCC) will help them expand their services exports," Goyal has said, adding, "we will be sensitising the sectors to get the best out this agreement."

"We will send delegations to UK ...and prepare the ground work in the next few months while their parliamentary approval is going on so that we can start leveraging the FTA as soon as it is operational," he added.

The pact will see 99 per cent of Indian exports enter the UK duty-free, when it comes into force. It will also reduce tariffs on British products such as cars, cosmetics, and whisky.

The deal aims to double the USD 56-billion trade between the world's fifth and sixth largest economies by 2030.

While India has opened its market to various consumer goods, including chocolates, biscuits, and cosmetics, it will gain greater access to export products such as textiles, furniture, footwear, gems and jewellery, sports goods, and toys.

Also, Indian companies, such as TCS and Infosys, operating in the UK won't have to make social security contributions for up to three years for employees who move from India.

Under the pact, tariffs on Scotch whisky will be reduced from 150 per cent to 75 per cent immediately, and further lowered to 40 per cent by 2035.

On automobiles, India will reduce import duties to 10 per cent over five years, down from the current rate of up to 110 per cent, under a gradually liberalised quota system.

India has provided duty concessions to the UK auto exporters only on large petrol and diesel vehicles and high-priced EVs, while protecting sensitive segments of the domestic automotive industry, especially mid and small cars and low-priced EVs, under the trade pact.

India will also get duty-free access to several agri goods in the UK, such as fruits, vegetables, cereals, turmeric, pepper, cardamom, and processed goods like ready-to-eat food, mango pulp, pickles, and pulses.

Marine products such as shrimp, tuna, fishmeal, and feeds, currently taxed between 4.2 per cent and 8.5 per cent, will become duty-free once the pact comes into force.

In the textiles segment, India is facing a duty disadvantage vis-a-vis Bangladesh, Pakistan and Cambodia, which have duty-free access to the UK market. Now this FTA would eliminate the tariff on textile imports from India, thereby enhancing its price competitiveness in the UK market.

On the services front, the agreement will enable Indian financial services players to expand their footprint in Britain, enhance their competitiveness and serve the Indian diaspora and businesses.

For digitally delivered financial services, the UK has provided market access with respect to the various sub-sectors under both insurance and insurance-related, and banking and other financial services.