India-EU FTA close to finish; sensitive agri goods to stay out

Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, with Maroš Šefčovič, the European Union’s Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security

Sensitive goods in agriculture will be kept out of the free trade agreement between India and European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a senior government official said, as the two sides move closer to sealing the long-pending pact.

This is in line with India’s traditional stance in trade negotiations, as the country has similarly excluded key farm products and dairy from recently concluded trade deals with the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Separately, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal on January 15 said India and the EU have fully closed 20 of the 24 negotiating chapters and are working to wrap up the remaining ones, with efforts underway to close all pending issues ahead of a leaders’ meeting later this month.

“We expect to conclude the talks and have the deal ready, and then we can have some kind of announcement (ahead of the leaders’ meet from January 25-27), but it depends on the progress in the next five days,” Agrawal said.

At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will undertake a State Visit to India from January 25-27.

They will serve as Chief Guests at the 77th Republic Day celebrations on January 26 and co-chair the 16th India-EU Summit a day later, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

The FTA could be formally signed on January 27.

In February 2025, India and the EU decided to ramp up talks for the proposed free trade agreement, initially targeting to close it by the end of 2025 to tide over ongoing disruptions from volatile trade policies.

The EU is India's largest trading partner, accounting for 12.2 percent of its trade, ahead of the US (10.8 percent) and China (10.5 percent). The bloc is the second-largest destination for Indian exports after the United States.

The visit of Presidents Costa and von der Leyen is expected to further deepen the India-EU Strategic Partnership and advance cooperation in key areas of mutual interest, including economic collaboration and global policy initiatives, the ministry said.

India is the EU’s ninth-largest trading partner, accounting for 2.2 percent of its trade in goods in 2023, well behind the US, China and the UK.

FTA updates

India is aiming to operationalise its free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United Kingdom, Oman, and New Zealand within this year, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said.

Agrawal noted that the timeline for when the trade deals will kick in depends on the procedures in both countries involved. For instance, the New Zealand FTA still needs to be ratified by their Parliament before it can come into effect.

On Canada, he said that both sides are engaged in finalising the Terms of Reference (ToR) for an FTA, which should be completed soon.

While the India‑UK FTA was signed on July 24, 2025, the one with Oman was inked on December 18, of the same year.

Talks for a trade deal with New Zealand were concluded on December 22, 2025

These FTAs are seen as part of India’s push to diversify export markets and secure preferential trade terms for its key goods and services sectors.