India, EU FTA to kick in within a year, says Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal

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India and the European Union will move towards signing and operationalising the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between them within a year, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on February 10.

Speaking at the inauguration of BIOFACH 2026 in Nuremberg, Agrawal said the agreement had been described by leaders on both sides as the “mother of all trade deals,” because it represents nearly one-fourth of the global economy and a combined population of about two billion people.

India and the European Union announced the conclusion of negotiations for the FTA on February 27.

Both sides resumed talks in 2022 after a gap of nearly a decade. The agreement covers trade in goods and services, investment, sustainability, and regulatory cooperation.

Agrawal said the India-EU FTA assumes greater significance at a time of heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

“When the world is facing turmoil, the India-EU FTA offers hope that a large part of global trade can continue under a rules-based framework,” he added.

The European Union is India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade in goods and services exceeding €120 billion annually.