The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Oman is likely to come into effect from June 1 while the free trade agreement with Chile can be finalised if India can get a good deal on critical minerals, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said Tuesday.

“I have had a very good meeting with the Oman team today and most probably the Oman free trade agreement will come into effect from 1st of June, 2026,” he told reporters on the sidelines of CII Annual Business summit.

The minister held a meeting this morning with Advisor for Foreign Trade and International Cooperation at the Oman’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion Pankaj Khimji, Discussions in the meeting focussed on exploring new avenues bilateral partnership under India-Oman CEPA framework.  

Timeline of CEPA between India and Oman

India and Oman signed CEPA in December 2025. It was ratified by Oman through a Royal Decree in February. The CEPA will open up zero-duty access on 98.08% of tariff lines, covering 99.38% of India’s exports to Oman. In return, India will open up 77% of its tariff lines for Oman that will cover 94% of its total exports to India. While on most products the tariffs will straight away drop in zero, in petrochemicals the reduction will be in a phased manner.  

Goyal also met Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile Francisco Pérez Mackenna along with a delegation from Chile at breakfast on Tuesday.  “We reviewed the progress of the India-Chile Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations and discussed ways to further deepen our trade, investment, and strategic partnership,” Goyal posted on X after the meeting. 

“There are some challenges given the very different size of the economy and different scale of opportunity that both countries offer to each other. We are trying to bridge that gap through innovative solutions,” the minister said.

He said if “India can get a good deal around critical minerals and other important mining concessions, then maybe there is a very good possibility that we should be able to finalize an FTA with Chile too”.

FTA with Chile

While being a regular trade agreement on most fronts, the FTA with Chile also differs from them as both sides have decided to include a chapter on critical minerals in the agreement. With Chile, India has already developed a bilateral mechanism on critical minerals. Chile has vast reserves of critical minerals and is a world leader in copper. It also has significant lithium, silver, and molybdenum deposits.

The CEPA with Chile aims to build upon the existing Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between the two nations and seeks to encompass a broader range of sectors, including digital services, investment promotion and cooperation, MSME and critical minerals. 

With Chile negotiations on CEPA were launched on April 1, 2025 and so far four rounds of negotiations have been held.  The last round of talks were held between December 1-5 2025.