'Duty on cars and alcohol will be cut', Piyush Goyal said on FTA with Britain

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated on Saturday that no compromise was struck with Indian interests in the trade deal with Britain. This will benefit us immensely. Efforts have begun to make the groundwork to capitalize on possible opportunities in the UK market.

Five years after FTA has been implemented, both nations will be assessing the agreement. Both nations have kept their sensitive items out of trade in the agreement, Goyal stated. India will reduce duty on both automobiles and liquor originating from Britain in a phased manner and their imports will also be restricted. Our production will remain unaffected by this.

Goyal said that now every developed country is looking at its business future in India. The Indian economy is growing at the fastest pace. The middle class is emerging in India at a very fast pace. India is emerging as a reliable trade partner and the most important thing is that India is a democratic country where the rule of law prevails.

The British Prime Minister had said during the agreement that the trade agreement with India is most important for us. The Commerce Minister said that negotiations on trade agreements with countries like the US, European Union (EU), Oman, New Zealand have progressed a lot. Trade talks are also going on with countries like Peru, Chile.

Goyal said that negotiations on a trade agreement with Britain had started during the UPA government itself, but their government left it midway. Negotiations on this started in the year 2022 in the Modi government and we brought it to fruition, which is going to give a big benefit to India's exports.

He said that India did not get any benefit from the trade agreements made with ASEAN and other countries during the UPA regime. Those countries opened their doors very little for Indian goods, whereas we opened our doors completely for them.