Indian industry needs to leverage and utilise the Free Trade Agreements (FTA) that are operational or are in offing as they provide huge opportunities for trade and investments, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Monday . He said currently FTA utilisation rates by Indian exporters are quite low.

He also said that the country’s industrial policy should complement its trade policy, as trade is also a function of how India invests and produces.

“The industry should include these FTA’s in their long-term business strategy and look at more and more opportunities to become a part of global value chains,”he said at the CII Annual Business Summit adding that the new FTAs of India are with developed economies, which are complementary in nature and which can bring investments into India.

“We are expanding beyond tariffs, talking about services in greater manner, talking about harmonisation of regulations because at the end of these FTAs, we want to provide a very predictable trade, tariff and regulatory environment to our investors and industry,” he said.

The Commerce Secretary said “In the past six years, India has signed nine FTAs with 38 different countries, which are at various stages of implementation. Today India’s FTAs are deeper, and much more nuanced.” 

Commerce seccy on India’s engagement with the world today

He spoke about India’s engagement with the world today, which is expanding beyond tariffs, towards harmonisation of regulations, as the need of the hour calls for predictable trade, tariff and regulatory environment for investors and industry. This will enable the country to not only grow trade but also create the right foundation for getting investment, both domestic and foreign.  

The government is also working on a comprehensive plan to increase the FTA utilisation that would include reaching out and handholding them on the processes.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has held a series of meetings with industry associations, businesses and export promotion councils (EPCs) on ways to achieve this goal.

Since 2021, India has finalised free trade agreements (FTAs) with Mauritius, Australia, the UAE, Oman, New Zealand, the EFTA (European Free Trade Association), the European Union (EU), the UK and US.