The India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) is a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Republic of India and the four member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA): Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The agreement is a concept and a legal provision that establishes a free trade area to liberalize trade in goods and services and enhance investment opportunities.
The origin of the agreement dates back to 2008, when discussions on an FTA began, leading to 21 rounds of negotiations over 16 years. The problem it solved was the high tariffs and trade barriers that existed, such as India's import duty of 20% on Swiss watches and 30% on chocolates from European countries. The agreement was formally signed on March 10, 2024, in New Delhi, and came into effect on October 1, 2025.
The TEPA is a broad-based agreement with 14 chapters covering areas like trade in goods, rules of origin, trade in services, investment promotion, and intellectual property rights. A key mechanism is the reciprocal tariff reduction: EFTA will eliminate or sharply reduce tariffs on about 99.6% of India's export value, while India will reduce or remove duties on roughly 95.3% of EFTA's export value, covering 82.7% of its tariff lines. A novel provision is the binding commitment from EFTA states to aim to invest USD 100 billion in India over 15 years and facilitate the creation of 1 million direct jobs. This is the first such binding investment pledge in an Indian FTA.
The TEPA connects to India's broader strategy of signing FTAs, following recent agreements with the UAE and Australia. It is also seen as a model for future agreements with developed nations, as it includes a dedicated chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development with legally binding commitments on environmental protection and labor standards, a first for an Indian FTA. The agreement has not been replaced, but its entry into force on October 1, 2025, marked the culmination of the negotiation process. Sensitive sectors like dairy, soya, coal, and gold imports were excluded from full tariff liberalization to safeguard domestic industries.