India, EFTA trade pact to come into force from Oct 1; USD 100 bn investment in next 15 yrs

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) The free trade agreement between India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA will come into force from Wednesday under which New Delhi has received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion in 15 years from the grouping while allowing several products such as Swiss watches, chocolates and cut and polished diamonds at lower or zero duties.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. It was signed on March 10, 2024.

Domestic customers will get access to high-quality Swiss products such as watches, chocolates, biscuits, and clocks at lower prices as India will phase out customs duties under the trade pact on these goods over 10 years.

The bloc committed an investment of USD 100 billion -- USD 50 billion within 10 years after the implementation of the agreement and another USD 50 billion in the next five years - which would facilitate the creation of one million direct jobs in India.

This is a first-of-its-kind pledge agreed upon in any of the trade deals signed by India so far.

There is a provision in the pact, officially known as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), that if the proposed investments would not come because of some reasons, India can re-balance or suspend the duty concessions to the four countries.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday reiterated that the TEPA will come into force from October 1.

India is offering 82.7 per cent of its tariff lines or product categories, which covers 95.3 per cent of EFTA exports of which more than 80 per cent of imports are gold.

Sectors such as dairy, soya, coal and sensitive agricultural products are kept on the exclusion list and there will not be any duty concessions on these goods.

In the services sector, India has offered 105 sub-sectors to the EFTA like accounting, business services, computer services, distribution and health.

On the other hand, the country has secured commitments in 128 sub-sectors from Switzerland, 114 from Norway, 107 from Liechtenstein, and 110 from Iceland.

Segments where Indian services will get a boost include legal, audio-visual, R&D, computer, accounting, and auditing.

Further the pact would provide an opportunity for domestic exporters to integrate into EU (European Union) markets. Over 40 per cent of Switzerland's global services exports are to the EU. Indian companies can look to Switzerland as a base for extending their market reach to the EU.

Commenting on the pact, Gulzar Didwania, Partner, Deloitte India, said that as the TEPA is now set to come into force, the opportunities available to India align with each member's strengths.

"Swiss pharma and medical devices can pair India's high-quality medical eco-system; precision machinery and industrial automation from Switzerland and Liechtenstein can anchor Make in India supply chains; Norway can drive green maritime, offshore wind, digital ports and carbon management; and Iceland's renewable power and geothermal expertise can underwrite low carbon compute and industrial decarbonisation," Didwania said.

TEPA was the 14th trade deal that India has signed with individual countries and regional blocs. TEPA is the first trade agreement with developed countries from the Western Hemisphere.

This will be the fifth agreement of the Modi-led government. India signed pacts with Mauritius, the UAE, UK, and Australia. Talks are at an advanced stage with the US, Oman, EU, Chile, New Zealand and Peru for FTAs.

India's exports to the EFTA bloc rose by 1.22 per cent to USD 1.97 billion in 2024-25 from USD 1.94 billion in 2023-24. Imports jumped to USD 22.44 billion in 2024-25 from USD 22.05 billion in 2023-24. The two way trade stood at USD 24.41 billion in the last fiscal. The trade gap is in the favour of the bloc with a USD 20.47 trade deficit in 2024-25.

The biggest trading partner of India in the bloc is Switzerland (exports USD 1.47 billion and imports USD 21.8 billion in 2024-25), which already has zero customs duties on almost all industrial goods.

India has low trade volumes with the remaining three countries - Iceland (exports USD 66 million and imports USD 11 million in 2024-25), Liechtenstein (exports USD 0.41 million and imports USD 1.82 million in 2024-25), and Norway (exports USD 425 million and imports USD 632.8 million in 2024-25).

India has received USD 10.87 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) from Switzerland during April 2000 and June 2025. It was USD 54.07 million from Iceland; USD 110.26 million from Liechtenstein; and USD 941.81 million from Norway.

EFTA countries are not part of the European Union (EU). It is an inter-governmental organisation for the promotion and intensification of free trade. It was founded as an alternative for states that did not wish to join the European community.

India is negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement separately with the EU, the 27-nation bloc. PTI RR DR DR