India, UK FTA may come into force in next 30 to 45 days: Piyush Goyal

Goyal held a bilateral meeting with Peter Kyle, UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on the sidelines of the 14th ministerial conference of the WTO.

New Delhi: The India-UK free trade agreement (FTA), signed in July last year, is likely to come into force in the next 30-45 days, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday.

Goyal held a bilateral meeting with Peter Kyle, UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on the sidelines of the 14th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last month in Cameroon.

"The United Kingdom is also very pleased at the speed with which the India-UK Free Trade Agreement passed both Houses of Parliament... and we are also looking at a possible entry into force of the agreement over the next 30 to 45 days," he told reporters here.

India and the UK, on July 24, 2025, signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) under which 99 per cent of Indian exports will enter the British market at 'zero' duty, while tariffs on British products such as cars and whisky will be reduced in India.

The following are the other developments on free trade agreements that India has entered into in recent years.

India-Oman FTA:

On December 18, 2025, India and Oman signed a free trade agreement which will provide duty-free access to 98 per cent of India's exports, including textiles, agriculture and leather goods in Oman.

On the other hand, India will reduce tariffs on Omani products such as dates, marbles and petrochemical items.

Goyal said that he met Pankaj Khimji, Advisor for Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Oman, in Cameroon and discussed trade-related issues.

He said that both nations are working to implement the agreement "on May 1, 2026".

India-Mercosur trade pact:

During his meeting with the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Goyal said both countries have tasked their teams to speed up discussions on expanding the preferential trade agreement between Mercosur and India.

Mercosur is a trading bloc in Latin America, comprising Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

The India-Mercosur PTA came into effect on June 1, 2009.

This PTA has limited coverage and contains only 450 tariff lines or products.

Both sides are looking at expanding the scope of this pact to a full-fledged agreement.

India-Canada FTA:

Goyal also met Canadian Minister of International Trade Maninder Sandhu and discussed next steps to expand bilateral engagement.

He is expected to lead a huge business delegation to Canada by the end of this month or early June and participate in the meeting of the Joint Committee on Trade.

"We are also looking to expand our investment partnership so that greater pools of capital would be drawn towards India," he said, adding that both sides are looking to fast-track negotiations for the proposed trade pact.

"In the free trade agreement, we find Canada to be a complementary economy. They barely compete with us on any critical item... We believe in grabbing the low-hanging fruit, focusing on issues which are not sensitive to either country, focusing on complementarity and trying to come up with an agreement that's a win-win for both sides," he said.

On March 2, the two countries launched negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

India-Chile FTA:

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that the two countries have expressed commitment to fast-track the ongoing FTA negotiation and conclude it in the next few months.

India and Chile implemented a preferential trade agreement (PTA) in 2006 and are now negotiating to widen its scope for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

The pact with the South American nation may help India access critical minerals, which are key inputs for electronics, auto, and solar sectors.

India-Peru FTA:

Agrawal said he met Peru's Vice-Minister in Cameroon, "wherein it was decided that the negotiations (for a trade pact) are stuck due to a mismatch of aspirations.

"The chief negotiator (of both sides) will work towards working out an informal package first, which will be finalized, and then the negotiations will resume to take it to a finality," he told reporters here.

Negotiations for the agreement started in 2017. It was earlier stuck due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Inidia-SACU trade pact:

During his meeting with a South African minister in Cameroon, the secretary said it was agreed that the SACU preferential trade agreement negotiations would start in the next few months.

"Because they would like to have a PTA package within this calendar year, if possible," Agrawal said.

South African Customs Union (SACU) comprises South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and Namibia.