The deals and
the policies

The UAE is India’s second-largest export market: $38.7 bn in 2025 — and its biggest re-export hub into Africa and the Gulf.

• Gems & jewellery — zero duty on plain gold jewellery within an annual quota; the UAE is already the top buyer of Indian jewellery (and India’s top gems supplier in turn).
• Textiles, leather, footwear — immediate duty elimination, aimed at re-export through Dubai’s trading houses.
• Pharma — fast-track regulatory approval for Indian medicines already approved in developed markets.
• About 97% of UAE tariff lines opened to Indian goods, covering 99% of exports by value.
• See the full trade picture →

India exported $7.7 bn to Australia in 2025. The jump came before the agreement — $3.5 bn in 2020 to $8.2 bn in 2022 — and exports have been broadly flat since ECTA entered force at the end of that year. From 1 January 2026, 100% of Indian exports enter Australia duty-free, so the test of the deal is still ahead.

• Textiles & apparel, leather, gems, sports goods — the labour-intensive sectors got zero duty from day one.
• Pharma — fast-track approval route mirroring the UK/Canada assessments.
• In return India cut duties on Australian coal, wool, lentils and wine (wine phased down, not eliminated).
• A deeper agreement (CECA) covering services, digital trade and critical minerals is still under negotiation.
• See the full trade picture →

The unusual one: EFTA states committed to invest $100 bn in India over 15 years — the first FTA anywhere to bind investment to market access. Switzerland is India’s 11th-largest import source (mostly gold — see who supplies India’s gems).

• India phases out tariffs on ~95% of industrial imports from EFTA over up to 10 years — watches, chocolate, machinery, pharma inputs get cheaper.
• Gold — by far the biggest EFTA export to India — keeps its duty structure largely intact.
• Indian exporters gain duty-free access for textiles, chemicals and engineering goods, plus easier services mobility.
• See the full trade picture →

Signed July 2025, live as of this month. The UK is India’s fifth-largest export market: $13.8 bn in 2025; both sides expect bilateral trade to roughly double by 2030.

• The UK scrapped duties on 99% of Indian tariff lines immediately — ending 12% tariffs on textiles & clothing, 16% on leather & footwear, 21.5% on marine products, 18% on engineering goods, up to 70% on processed foods.
• Biggest expected winners: apparel (HS 62, 61), footwear (64), gems, auto components — sectors where India competes head-on with Bangladesh and Vietnam (see the race).
• India phases Scotch whisky duties from 150% to 75% now, 40% by year ten; UK cars enter under a quota with falling rates.
• A social-security pact (no double contributions for posted workers) came into force the same day.
• See the full trade picture →