India-EFTA trade pact to be implemented from September: Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal said he held bilateral meetings with over a dozen companies and most of them are keen to invest in India.

The free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the four-nation European bloc European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will come into force from September, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

The EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.

Once it implemented several products such as Swiss watches, Swiss chocolates, biscuits and cut and polished diamonds will be imported from four European countries at lower or zero duties.

India has promised to reduce tariffs to zero on 80-85 percent of goods from EFTA countries.

On the other hand these four European countries will allow duty-free market access for almost 99 per cent goods, including rice from India.

Both sides have excluded most of the agri and dairy products from duty concession to protect their farmers.

Apart from goods under the agreement India has received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion in 15 years.

“…By September, TEPA will be operationalised…It will enter into force by September," Goyal told reporters.

He said the agreement has received approval from the Parliaments of all four countries. In Switzerland, there is an objection period open until July 10. July and August are holiday months here.

The two sides signed the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) on March 10, 2024.

Had a constructive meeting with the CEOs of Swiss SMEs from the precision engineering, machine tools & advanced manufacturing sectors.

Highlighted India's strong manufacturing ecosystem & explored collaboration opportunities. Also, underscored Indias potential to serve as a pic.twitter.com/KuOz1yn8oS Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) June 9, 2025

The minister is visiting Bern on an official visit to meet leaders and businesses to promote trade and investments between India and Switzerland.

Goyal said he held bilateral meetings with over a dozen companies here and most of them are keen to invest in India.

The Swiss firms have shown interest in sectors such as pharma, cybersecurity, and machinery manufacturing, he said. "Lots of excitement here for India," he opined.

On FTAs, he said India is actively negotiating these pacts with countries including New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Oman, and the European Union (EU).

He indicated that a trade pact with the EU could be concluded “faster than expected”.

“Discussions are going on with the EU…we may finalise BIT (bilateral investment treaty) also,” Goyal informed.

Talking about his bilateral meetings, the minister suggested certain companies to organise board meetings in India so that they can see investment potential in the country.

In a series of sectoral meetings, interacted with CEOs of several Swiss pharmaceutical and life sciences companies who are closely looking at investing in India.Had an exciting interaction on their vision & growth plans. Glad to hear their appreciation for India's growth pic.twitter.com/2ydPBX2ajl Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) June 9, 2025

He said there is also a huge potential in India for manufacturing machines, adding that 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) is permitted in machine manufacturing. This could help cut import dependence on machine imports from China.

Talking about the 11 years of NDA government, Goyal said India has become a preferred investment destination and free trade agreements also help in that.