Mumbai, 13 June (IANS). For South Asia, Britain’s Trade Commissioner Harjinder Kang said that an additional trade price of 25.5 billion pounds would be possible from the Indo-Bitten Free Trade Agreement.
Participating in a panel discussion, he said, “This agreement is not just a trade deal; it is a blueprint for the next chapter of UK-India economic cooperation. It opens the doors of real gains to both manufacturers and service providers with 43 billion pounds in current trade and 25.5 billion pounds in older gains.”
He confirmed that liberalization of services, auto tariffs (with quota) and Future-Reddy Tech Security Corridor have been included in the agreement, including possible expansion in sector such as pharma, semiconductor and green tech.
Giving details of the FTA framework, he said that under the Indo-Britain FTA, 99 percent of Indian goods to be sent to the UK and 90 percent of the UK goods sent to India will be targe-free.
The maximum tariff of UK on whiskey will decrease from 150 percent to 40 percent in 10 years.
He said that CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) is not a part of the Indo-Bitten FTA, which gives confidence to the Indian industry that carbon taxes will not affect bilateral trade conditions under this agreement.
According to PL Capital Chairperson and MD Amisha Vora, 72 percent of India’s export trade surplus to the UK, including electronics, fuels, chemicals, textiles and apparel, run 72 percent of India’s export trade surplus, which is likely to increase in areas such as auto components, engineering goods and textiles.
Emphasizing the FTA’s service dimension in a panel discussion, he highlighted India’s 18 billion dollars of service exports to the UK, the second largest export after the US.
Highlighting the occasion in the textile sector, the Chief Economist of Welspun Group, Anuj Aggarwal said, “The area is 2.3 percent of India’s GDP, 12-13 percent of industrial production. Also employs 45 million people. But our UK exports are only $ 1.5 billion. This FTA gives India a proper opportunity to recover its share.”
-IANS
SKT/
