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India’s recent landmark Free Trade Agreement deal clinched with the United Kingdom has sent a wave of excitement within the Indian industry. The “totally job-orientated deal” that’s set to double India-UK trade by 2030 with an ambitious target of USD 100 billion is being termed as a ‘key enabler’ for participating in the global value chain, according to President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Sanjiv Puri.

“Industry is very keen to have the FTAs because these are important enablers to participate in global value chains, which are 70 per cent of the global trade. So, the industry is very much looking forward to it,” said Puri, who is also the Managing Director of ITC. He added that the industry is also keen to have a trade deal with the United States.

“We know that both the other FTAs are strong focuses of the government and there’s a possibility of (trade deal with) the US one by autumn and the EU - there was this EU president along with a large number of the cabinet ministers here in India - a commitment was made that by the end of the year they should get signed so we are hoping these within the timelines,” Puri said. 

Puri also stated that focusing on agriculture will help increase income and consumption of the people employed by the sector.

The Commerce and Industry Ministry had highlighted the importance of FTAs on May 9 and added that such trade agreements make India more competitive with markets like the United States of America, China, and Brazil.

While the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) had predicted that India will gain ground over the USA, China, and Thailand in processed food, the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) highlighted in a report that potential risks to the domestic industry, especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), will be more due to increased foreign competition.

GTRI further added that India should draw lessons from the recently concluded US-UK trade deal and be cautious on a deal with America for its bilateral trade deal.