India has concluded nine free trade agreements covering 38 nations: Goyal

Mumbai, Feb 24 (PTI) India has concluded nine free trade agreements (FTAs), covering 38 nations, enabling the country's shipments to get preferential access to nearly two-thirds of global markets, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday.

Addressing the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards ceremony here, Goyal said that these pacts will help Indian goods, services, agricultural and fisheries products, and labour-intensive sectors reach new markets, integrate into global value chains and enhance talent mobility.

He said that every country wants to enter into a trade deal with India and added that "I have had an engagement with Chile, which wants to conclude the FTA this week. We are launching (FTA talks with) Canada, hopefully when the prime minister (Mark Carney) is here on Monday." He said that India should be able to finalise the Terms of Reference and launch FTA negotiations with Canada.

Goyal underscored that India's youth and human capital are at the heart of the nation's growth story.

Reflecting on interactions with founders and business leaders, he said passion, innovation and skilled manpower are India's biggest competitive advantages.

About the recently-concluded AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, the minister said the global response demonstrated the depth and maturity of India's innovation ecosystem and technological capabilities.

On concerns around artificial intelligence and employment, Goyal said AI would transform jobs rather than eliminate them and noted that India produces around 2.3 million STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) graduates every year and possesses an unmatched pool of young, adaptable and ambitious talent.

Drawing parallels with the Y2K era, he described AI as the next inflection point that will create better opportunities, higher-value work, stronger exports and deeper global integration for Indian businesses, while also increasing demand for skilled professionals in areas such as cybersecurity, data protection and system governance.

Emphasising that self-reliance does not mean isolation, Goyal said Atmanirbhar Bharat is about building resilient, trusted and diversified supply chains through global engagement.

Calling upon entrepreneurs and industry leaders to take global opportunities to MSMEs, farmers, exporters and fishermen across the country, he expressed confidence that young India will lead the nation through Amrit Kaal towards becoming a developed economy by 2047.

Earlier in the day, participating in a panel discussion at the event, veteran banker and chairman of Gift City, Uday Kotak, said that AI is for real, and we can debate on the time and speed of change and disruption.

Stating that the SaaS (software-as-service) companies are in the ‘Vishnu phase’, Kotak said that software application companies may have moved to the ‘Maheshwari phase’.

He also said that Indian banks face an intermediary cost of 250 bps.

There is very high costs for regulations like CRR, Kotak said and added, "We must make sure there is no colonisation due to investments by the US and China." He also urged that Indian businesses should invest 10 per cent of their revenue into R&D.

Sajjan Jindal, Chairman of the JSW Group, said that AI will only improve the productivity of businesses.

He said that costs will come down when productivity improves.

Jindal, however, said that India Inc was not spending enough in R&D while agreeing with Uday Kotak that the Indian companies were kind of living "Quarter se Quarter tak".

He further said, "We have to learn from China on expansion. We are still 4-5 years away from having the bullet train started. China has thousands of kilometres of bullet trains running." He said that the "government has to decide on how to learn from China. We need to take our relationship to another level." PTI IAS HVA