Parliament Question: Impact of Free Trade Agreements on India’s trade balance

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2452 ANSWERED ON 13/03/2026 IMPACT OF FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS ON INDIA’S TRADE BALANCE 2452. SHRI SANJAY SINGH: Will the Minister of COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY be pleased to state: (a) the total number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) signed by India so far, country-wise since 2020; (b) the country wise details of India’s total exports and imports in terms of value (₹ crore), volume and major commodities traded, since the year of implementation of FTAs/CEPAs year-wise; (c) the year-wise trade balance (surplus/deficit) with each of the above countries from the year of agreement till date; and (d) whether Government has conducted any impact assessment of these FTAs/CEPAs on India’s trade deficit? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (c) Since 2020, India has signed 06 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with its trade partners, namely, Mauritius, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Australia, European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the United Kingdom (UK) and Oman. 04 of these signed FTAs are currently in force while the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) signed with the United Kingdom on 24th July, 2025 and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed with Oman on 18th December, 2025 will come into effect after ratification. In addition, FTA negotiations with New Zealand and the European Union have been concluded on 22nd December 2025 and 27th January 2026 respectively. Also, India and the United States of America (USA) have announced on February 7, 2026 that the United States of America (United States) and India have reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade (Interim Agreement). The details of import, export, trade balance and major commodities traded, since the year of implementation of the 04 trade agreements in force, signed since 2020, are provided at Annexure. (d) The Government regularly reviews and assesses the impact of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements (CEPAs) based on feedback from domestic industry, stakeholders, industry associations and concerned Ministries/Departments. These assessments include comprehensive analysis of the composition of imports and exports, trends in trade flows and sectoral performances. The assessments examine implications for India’s trade balance in the context of domestic requirements, energy security, raw materials, supply chains and value addition across sectors through trade linkages that strengthen technological upgradation, manufacturing ecosystems and enable deeper integration of the Indian products with global value chains, thereby contributing to overall economic growth and competitiveness. 1Institutional mechanisms such as Joint Committees and Sub-Committees established under these agreements are also used to review implementation issues and address concerns raised by the domestic industry. Relatedly, Government has undertaken various initiatives such Export Promotion Mission (EPM) approved by the Cabinet on 12.11.2025, Foreign Trade Policy effective from April 01, 2023, Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Scheme, Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP), Districts as Export Hubs initiative, Trade Connect ePlatform - a unified digital interface to provide international trade information and services to all Indian exporters etc. to strengthen domestic capacities, promote value addition and boost exports so as to maximise the benefits arising from these trade agreements. ***** 2Annexure 1. India - Mauritius Compr ehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) Date of Signing: 22nd February, 2021 Date of implementation: 01st April, 2021 (Value in Rs. Crore) 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Apr – Dec 2025 Export 3125 5326 3720 6454 5699 3490 Import 315 536 736 605 1788 766 Total Trade 3440 5862 4325 7059 7487 4256 Trade 2810 4790 2984 5849 3911 2724 Balance (Source: DGCIS) • Major exported commodities to Mauritius: Salt; Sulphur; Plastering Materials, Cotton; Iron and Steel; Electrical Machinery and Equipment; Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils; Plastic and Articles thereof. • Major imported commodities from Mauritius: Articles of Iron or Steel; Medical or Surgical Inst. and Apparatus Parts and Accessories thereof; Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts. 2. India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) Date of Signing: 02nd April, 2022 Date of implementation: 29th December 2022 (Value in Rs. Crore) India’s Export to Australia 2022-2023 2023-2024 2024-2025 Apr-Dec 2025 A Gems and Jewellery Products 2553 2753 2483 2728 B Petroleum Products 34127 23334 31433 37910 Non-petroleum and Gems & C 25160 29468 31752 31974 Jewellery Products Total Export (A+B+C) 61840 55555 65668 72612 India’s Import from Australia A Gems and Jewellery Products 6936 8429 16666 31073 B Petroleum Products 48 2 12 25 Non-petroleum and Gems & C 118044 143571 117104 100134 Jewellery Products Total Import (A+B+C) 125028 152002 133782 131232 Total Trade 186868 207557 199450 203844 Trade Balance (Gems and Jewellery -4383 -5676 -14183 -28345 Products) Trade Balance (Petroleum Products) 34079 23332 31421 37885 Trade Balance (Non-petroleum and Gems -92884 -114103 -85352 -68160 & Jewellery Products) Trade Balance -63188 -96447 -68114 -58620 (Source: DGCIS) • Major exported commodities to Australia: Automotive Diesel Fuel; Basmati Rice; Garnet; Electro- Cardiographs; Electrical Machinery and Equipment • Major imported commodities from Australia: Coal; Articles of jewellery set with precious or semi-precious stones; Gold and precious metals; Lentils; Copper Ores; Liquified Natural Gas; Manganese Ore. 33. India - United Arab Emirates (UAE) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) Date of Signing: 18th February, 2022 Date of implementation: 01st May 2022 (Value in Rs. Crore) India’s Export to UAE 2022-2023 2023-2024 2024-2025 Apr-Dec 2025 Gems and Jewellery A 36964 46480 66673 65771 Products B Petroleum Products 46263 69472 68194 64128 Non-petroleum and Gems C 125931 137901 160227 180152 & Jewellery Products Total Export (A+B+C) 209158 253852 295094 310050 India’s Import from UAE Gems and Jewellery A 118747 118946 166630 229453 Products B Petroleum Products 151618 221928 146039 209214 Non-petroleum and Gems C 64105 86532 85157 98172 & Jewellery Products Total Import (A+B+C) 334470 427406 397826 536838 Total Trade 543628 681258 692921 846888 Trade Balance (Gems and -81783 -72466 -99957 -163682 Jewellery Products) Trade Balance (Petroleum -105355 -152456 -77845 -145086 Products) Trade Balance (Non-petroleum 61826 51369 75070 81980 and Gems & Jewellery Products) Trade Balance -125312 -173553 -102732 -226788 (Source: DGCIS) • Major exported commodities to UAE: Mineral oils and products of their distillation; Iron and Steel; Chemicals; Plastering materials, Lime and Cement. • Major imported commodities from UAE: Mineral Fuels; Cut and polished diamonds; Gold jewellery and parts thereof; Edible Fruit and Nuts; Fertilisers; Rubber and articles thereof, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances. 4. India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) India – EFTA TEPA signed on 10th March 2024 was implemented with effect from 01st October, 2025. Since TEPA has recently been implemented, the available trade data with EFTA for this period is provisional, which may be seen at https://ftddp.dgciskol.gov.in/dgcis/ Note on Volume Trade Data: Commodities are traded and reported in different units (e.g. kilograms, meters, litres, tonnes, unit numbers, etc.). The detailed tariff line wise commodity list may be to perused for over twelve thousand tariff items through the DGCIS Data Dissemination Portal at https://ftddp.dgciskol.gov.in/dgcis/ 4