The India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) has been signed after years of negotiations, according to a joint statement.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi met European Council president Antonio Costa and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at the 16th India–EU Summit in New Delhi on January 27 to sign the agreement.
The EU is India's largest trading partner. Machinery and appliances, chemicals, base metals, mineral products and textiles are India's top exports to the EU. The agreement is expected to remove tariffs on more than 90% of goods, with some reports of 96%.
Von der Leyen said: “The EU and India make history today, deepening the partnership between the world's biggest democracies. We have created a free trade zone of two billion people, with both sides set to gain economically.”
She added: “We have sent a signal to the world that rules-based cooperation still delivers great outcomes. And, best of all, this is only the start - we will build on this success, and grow our relationship to be even stronger.”
The EU and India already trade over €180 billion ($214 billion) worth of goods and services per year, supporting close to 800,000 EU jobs. This deal is expected to double EU goods exports to India by 2032 by eliminating or reducing tariffs in value of 96.6% of EU goods exports to India. Overall, the tariff reductions will save around €4 billion per year in duties on European products, the EU said.
India exports around $75 billion worth of goods to the EU and 99% of these are expected to gain preferential entry status to the EU.
Although full details haven't been revealed, there are some details here. Some tariffs on sensitive products such as beef, sugar, ethanol, rice and poultry will remain in place.
The EU -India deal comes months after the UK signed a trade deal with India in May 2025.
