India keeps dairy, key agri goods, gold out of Oman trade deal

India keeps dairy, key agri goods, gold out of Oman trade deal

In line with its traditional stance, India has excluded sensitive sectors from tariff concessions in its trade deal with Oman, particularly dairy and key agricultural products, to safeguard domestic interests.

"To safeguard its interest, sensitive products have been kept in the exclusion category by India without offering any concessions, especially agricultural products, including dairy, tea, coffee, rubber, and tobacco products; gold and silver bullion, jewellery; other labour-intensive products such as footwear, sports goods; and scrap of many base metals," the commerce ministry said in a statement on December 18.

As part of the trade deal, India will cut duties on about 78 percent of its tariff lines, covering nearly 95 percent of imports from Oman, with sensitive products given access mainly through tariff-rate quotas.

On the other hand, the trade deal gives India zero-duty access on 98.08 percent of Oman’s tariff lines, covering 99.38 percent of Indian exports by value.

The two countries signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on December 18, the second day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Gulf country.

Talks for a trade agreement between India and Oman began in November 2023 and concluded on August 2025.

Total trade between India and Oman stood at $10.61 billion in 2024-25, a growth of 18.6 percent on-year.

India imported goods worth $6.55 billion from Oman, while exports to the Gulf nation stood at $4.07 billion, leading to a trade deficit of $2.48 billion in the previous financial year.

India’s exports to Oman during the previous fiscal stayed almost steady with slight dips from $4.48 billion in FY23 and $4.43 billion in FY24, while imports witnessed an almost 45 percent jump on-year due to a sharp contraction in 2023-24.

Top exports to Oman in FY25 were led by petroleum products at $1.43 billion, engineering goods worth $812.2 million, mica, coal and other ores of $428.6 million and chemicals amounting to $241.4 million.

The country also ships limited amounts of textiles, gems and jewellery, and leather products to Oman. The trade deal is expected to boost exports of these labour-intensive goods that are facing the brunt of steeper tariffs from the US.

Over 80 percent of Indian goods are subject to an average import duty of 5 percent by Oman.

When it comes to India’s imports from Oman, mineral fuels and fertilisers make up the largest share.

Out of India’s imports worth $6.55 billion from the Gulf nation in FY25, $4.01 billion consisted of mineral fuels and fertilisers, followed by organic chemicals worth $608.74 million and plastics valued at $219.24 million.