The India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), formally known as the India–United Kingdom Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), is a bilateral trade concept and international provision designed to reduce barriers to trade in goods and services between the two nations. Negotiations were initiated in January 2022 and concluded after 14 rounds, with the agreement signed on July 24, 2025, and coming into effect on July 15, 2026. The primary problem it solves is the high tariff and non-tariff barriers that historically limited bilateral trade, aiming to double it to US$120 billion by 2030.
The core mechanism involves the phased elimination or reduction of tariffs on thousands of product lines. The UK provides immediate duty-free access for nearly 99% of India's exports, including textiles, leather, and marine products. India, in turn, will reduce tariffs on key UK exports like Scotch whisky, with duties falling from 150% to 40% over 10 years, and on high-end automobiles via a quota-based system. A key provision is the accompanying Double Contribution Convention (DCC), a social security pact that exempts Indian professionals on temporary UK assignments from paying social security in both countries, with the exemption period extended to 60 months. The agreement also connects to the concept of Rules of Origin, detailed in Chapter 3, which ensures only goods substantially transformed in either country benefit from the preferential tariffs. This FTA is a significant change, representing one of the UK's most ambitious trade pacts since Brexit and India's most comprehensive trade deal with a G-7 nation.