India, UK trade pact may come into effect in one month from now: Goyal

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

India and the UK free trade agreement is expected to be implemented from mid-April this year, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

India and the UK, on July 24 last year, signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) under which 99 per cent of Indian exports will enter the British market at zero duty, while tariffs on British products, such as cars and whisky, will be reduced in India.

The pact needs approval from the UK parliament before it is implemented.

In India, the Union Cabinet approves such agreements. After it gets approved by the British parliament, it will be implemented on a mutually agreed date.

Goyal said that it will be the fastest agreement to be approved by the UK parliament.

Normally, it is a one and a half year process. The UK agreement was signed in July 2025, and we will bring it into force (EIF) in one month from now, he said at an event organised by Assocham.

He said that, along with CETA, the Double Contribution Convention (DCC) will come into force.

The DCC will exempt Indian professionals and their employers from social security payments in the UK for up to three years. It will ensure that employees moving between the UK and India, and their employers, will only be liable to pay social security contributions in one country at a time.

CETA aims to double the $56 billion trade between the world's fourth and sixth largest economies by 2030.