NextFin news, India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) officially commenced their Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) on Tuesday, October 1, 2025. The pact was formally launched at an event held on Monday, September 30, 2025, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, attended by India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal alongside senior ministers from the EFTA countries—Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.
The agreement, signed on March 10, 2024, marks India's first-ever trade deal with a European bloc. It aims to enhance bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation between India and the four-nation EFTA bloc. The pact includes commitments to reduce tariffs, facilitate market access, and promote sustainable trade practices.
Under the agreement, EFTA countries have pledged to invest a total of $100 billion in India over a 15-year period, with $50 billion expected in the first 10 years and another $50 billion in the subsequent five years. Indian officials estimate that this investment could generate approximately one million direct jobs across various sectors in India.
The trade deal provides for tariff elimination on 92.2% of EFTA tariff lines, covering 99.6% of India's exports to the bloc. This includes full market access for non-agricultural products and tariff concessions on select processed agricultural goods. Conversely, India will liberalize 82.7% of its tariff lines, accounting for 95.3% of EFTA exports. Sensitive sectors such as dairy, soya, coal, and certain agricultural products remain excluded from India's tariff concessions. Import duties on gold, a significant Swiss export, will remain unchanged.
For Indian consumers, the agreement is expected to reduce duties on high-value EFTA goods such as Swiss watches, whisky, and chocolates. The pact also covers services, enabling professionals like nurses, chartered accountants, and architects to seek employment opportunities in EFTA countries through mutual recognition agreements.
Beyond trade and investment, the TEPA includes provisions on intellectual property rights, with safeguards against patent evergreening in the pharmaceutical sector to protect domestic producers. It also incorporates commitments on labor rights, environmental standards, and human rights under a sustainability clause, aligning with global best practices.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal described the agreement as a “Trust and Efficiency Partnership,” emphasizing the relationship's foundation on confidence and complementarity. He linked the pact to India’s broader economic strategy, which includes free trade agreements with the UAE and Australia, ongoing negotiations with the United States, the European Union, and Peru, and a framework for talks with the Eurasian Economic Union.
Trade data from fiscal year 2025 shows India exported goods worth $1.97 billion to the EFTA bloc, with Switzerland accounting for nearly three-fourths of these exports. Imports from EFTA were significantly higher at $22.44 billion, predominantly from Switzerland, resulting in a trade deficit of $20.47 billion.
The TEPA is expected to strengthen economic ties, increase investment flows, and create employment opportunities, marking a significant milestone in India’s trade diplomacy with Europe.
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