The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is confident about fulfilling its commitment of investing $100 billion in India in 15 years and offering one million jobs in the country, Switzerland State Secretary for Economic Affairs Helene Budliger told Moneycontrol.
The landmark Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) between India and the EFTA bloc, comprising Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, officially entered into force on October 1, 2025. The pact comes with a rare commitment by the EFTA grouping to invest $100 billion in India over the next 15 years to create potentially one million direct jobs.
“For EFTA, the advantage is obvious – India is a nation with 1.4 billion people and it is growing fast. So, we see India as promising market. In fact, during our negotiations Indian commerce minister (Piyush) Goyal told me this '30-30-30' thing about the country, which means in 30 years, India will be a $30-plus trillion economy and the average age of its population will still be 30 years of age," Budliger said.
Talking about Switzerland, she said the trade agreement will give a boost to Swiss exports to India, especially in the consumer goods sector. "The trade deal benefits Swiss consumer goods from watches to chocolates. You'll see more Swiss companies selling their products in India now. For example, we have a shoe maker that wants to conquer the Indian market. It's a health-focused shoe brand," Budliger said.
Besides, many Swiss companies in the MEM sector (mechanical, electrical, and mechanical engineering industries) are very eager to sell in India. Sooner or later they would also like to manufacture in India, she said.
"The Swiss private sector is bullish on investing in India. Also, we are very much a service industry and so is India. The deal will allow Indian high-tech companies sell their services in Switzerland because we have agreed for facilitation when it comes to the service sector," Budliger said.
Switzerland is India’s largest trading partner within the bloc, while trade volumes with Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein are limited as of now.
India’s offer to EFTA covers 82.7 percent of tariff lines, which are over 95 percent of EFTA exports. Over 80 percent of these imports are gold, where there is no change in effective duty. Sensitive sectors including pharma, medical devices, processed food, dairy, soya, coal, and certain agricultural products have been protected from duty cuts by India.
Under the India-EFTA free-trade agreement, Indian customers will get access to high-quality Swiss products such as watches, chocolates, biscuits, wines, apparel and clocks at lower prices as India will phase out customs duties under the trade pact on these goods over 10 years.
Over time, tariffs will fall on everything from Swiss machinery and medical equipment to fish oils and even smartphones.
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