India-UK FTA to open export avenues for several sectors; footwear, textiles, gems-jewellery among them: Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal

New Delhi [India], July 25 : The landmark India-UK Free Trade Agreement will benefit several sector, including leather and footwear industry; gem and jewellery; textiles and clothing; base metals; agricultural goods, among others, Union Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Friday.

In a briefing, the Commerce Secretary said exports of leather and footwear to UK are expected to double in the next two to three years to USD 1 billion. The manufacturers and exporters from many states such as Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Delhi NCR stand to gain substantially.

Import of leathers as also footwear components have been placed under 0 per cent duty which will help in reducing input cost for importers to manufacture and export value added products from India.

Zero duty on leather and footwear products also make India's exports price-competitive compared to major supplier's like China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and several other countries as this neutralizes the lower duty GSP disadvantage Indian exporters faced vis-a-vis exporters of Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh etc. and lower priced exports from China.

Total exports of leather and lootwear from India are more than USD 5 billion. Curent Indian export to UK is USD 440 million. India-UK trade deal opens up USD 8.5 billion leather and footwear export market for Indian exporters.

Zero duty has been granted tor export from India to UK for Leather, Leather and Synthetic Products, Fur and fur products and Footwear and Footwear Components. Products in this calegory earlier faced duties of up to 16 per cent. Removal of duties benefits in the range of 2 per cent to 8 per cent for leather products, 4.5 per cent for leather footwear and 11.9 per cent for non-leather footwear.

In gems and gewellery sector, exports are expected to surge to USD 2.5 billion within next 3 years, said the commerce secretary.

Duties have been eliminated for Indian exports in all lines giving India benefit of upto 4 per cent.

India's total gems and jewellery exports to UK was USD 941 millon in 2024, with USD 400 million from Jewellery

This FTA opens up huge market as UK imports USD 3.5 billion worth of Jewellery annually

Indla is poised to gain edge over its competitors like China, Thailand, Hong Kong, UAE and USA that are facing tariff between 1-4 per cent.

Wlith improved market access and India's strength in jewellery making including handmade jewelery, the increased exports, generate substantial employment opportunities in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal.

Also, India's textile export to UK is expected to double from 6 to 12 percent, the Commerce Ministry said.

India's total export to the world is 37 USD billion and total import of textiles in the UK is USD 27 billion. India's export is 6.6 per cent of UK's imports.

Under the FTA, zero duty market access was agreed upon for the textiles and clothing sector, which were earlier subjected to up to 12 per cent import duty.

"It will increase our exports and share in UK's textiles import," the Secretary said.

Production hubs such as Tirupur, Surat, Ludhiana, Bhadohi and Moradabad will benefit from increased demand, fostering job creation and economic growth. India will get competitive edge against China/Bangladesh/Vietnam/Cambodia.

Further, farmers in India are among the major winners as they are set to get preferential access to UK's agricultural market with the signing of the landmark India-UK Free Trade (FTA) Agreement.

The FTA will help Indian agriculture sector transition from focus on high volume to high value products, and from catering to local markets to expanding globally.

India has also ensured that the FTA fully protects sensitive sectors like dairy, vegetables, apples, cooking oils, oats. There will be no tariff concessions on these commodities.

Further, in what could be termed as a "big catch" for Indian fish farmers, the USD 5.4 billion UK market also got opened up for marine exports as UK import duty on marine products are set to fall to zero from up to 20 per cent.

The much-awaited landmark India-UK Free Trade Agreement was signed on Thursday, in the presence of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Keir Starmer, as PM Modi was on a two-day visit to the UK.

On May 6, Prime Minister Modi and PM Starmer had announced the successful conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This forward-looking Agreement is aligned with India's vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 and complements the growth aspirations of both countries.

Both nations desire to increase their trade to USD 120 billion by 2030.

On Thursday, the UK government said that India's average tariff on UK products will drop from 15 per cent to 3 per cent under India-UK FTA.

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