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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his United Kingdom (UK) counterpart Keir Starmer on Thursday signed the landmark free trade agreement (FTA) between India-UK — aimed at doubling the current $56 billion bilateral trade between the two nations by 2030.
The bilateral meeting took place at the historic Hawtry Room, where the two leaders held a one-on-one discussion to finalise the contours of what is being described as India’s most comprehensive trade pact and the UK’s most significant post-Brexit deal.
Among the key gainers are gems and jewellery, where current exports to the UK stand at $941 million, and engineering goods, where shipments are valued at $4 billion. The import duty on gems and jewellery is set to fall from 4 percent to zero, while tariffs on electrical machinery—currently as high as 14 percent—will also be eliminated. India currently holds a 4 percent share in the UK’s electrical machinery imports, 1.2 percent in mechanical machinery, and 5.8 percent in gems and jewellery.