Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi to London for the signing of the free trade agreement between India and the UK on July 24, an official said on Monday.
The two countries announced the conclusion of the negotiations for the trade agreement on May 6.
The trade pact proposes to remove taxes on the export of labour-intensive products such as leather, footwear and clothing, while making imports of whisky and cars from Britain cheaper, in a bid to double trade between the two economies to $120 billion by 2030.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a four-day visit to the United Kingdom and the Maldives beginning Wednesday with an aim to shore up bilateral ties in areas of trade, investment and defence.
The commerce minister will accompany the prime minister during the visit, the official said.
The text of the agreement is generally signed by the commerce ministers from both countries.
Once the free trade agreement is signed, it will require approval from the British Parliament and India’s Cabinet before it can take effect.
It will take about a year for implementation after the signing of the deal.
The world’s fifth and sixth-largest economies concluded the deal after three years of on-and-off negotiations.
The pact lowers tariffs on 99 per cent of Indian goods to zero in the UK market while allowing Indian workers to travel to the UK for work without changing Britain’s point-based immigration system.
Taxes on export of Indian clothing, frozen prawns, jewellery and gems will be cut.
And so will be the import of whisky and gin from the UK after the treaty halved the tariff to 75 per cent initially and to 40 per cent by the 10th year.
Tariffs on automotive imports will go from over 100 per cent to 10 per cent under quotas on both sides, benefiting companies such as Tata-JLR.
Indian goods that will enter the UK at zero duty include minerals, chemicals, gems and jewellery, plastic, rubber, wood, paper, textile, clothing, glass, ceramic, base metals, mechanical and electrical machinery, arms/ammunition, transport/auto, furniture, sports goods, animal products, and processed food.
The two have also concluded the negotiations for the Double Contribution Convention Agreement, or social security pact.
It would help avoid double contribution to social security funds by Indian professionals working for a limited period in Britain.
However, the talks for the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) are still going on.
Earlier, there were plans to conclude all three simultaneously.
India will gain from tariff elimination on about 99 per cent of the tariff lines (or product categories) covering almost 100 per cent of the trade value offering huge opportunities for an increase in the bilateral trade between the two nations.
On the services front, India will benefit in sectors such as IT/ITeS, finance, professional, and educational services.
The FTA has eased mobility for professionals, including contractual service suppliers; business visitors; investors; intra-corporate transferees; partners and dependent children of intra-corporate transferees with right to work; and independent professionals like yoga instructors, musicians and chefs.
Further, India has secured significant commitments on digitally delivered services such as architecture, engineering, computer-related and telecommunication services.
The pact comes at a time when global trade is facing headwinds due to the imposition of tariffs by the US.
The talks for the pact started in January 2022.
Both sides held 14 rounds for the conclusion of the talks.
In FTAs, two countries either eliminate or significantly reduce customs duties on maximum goods traded between them.
They also ease norms for promoting trade in services and bilateral investments.
India’s exports to the UK rose by 12.6 per cent to $14.5 billion, while imports grew by 2.3 per cent to $8.6 billion in 2024-25.
The bilateral trade between India and the UK increased to $21.34 billion in 2023-24 from $20.36 billion in 2022-23.
