India-EU Trade Pact to Be Signed by December, Comes Into Force February-March Next Year: Piyush Goyal

India's free trade agreement with the European Union is set to be signed by December 2025 and will come into effect from February or March 2026, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced on Thursday. The statement, reported by The Hindu, marks the most concrete timeline yet for a deal that has been in negotiation, with several false starts, since 2007.

The agreement — formally known as the Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement — covers goods, services, and investment flows between India and the 27-nation EU bloc. If implemented on schedule, it would become one of the most significant trade agreements in India's history, given that the EU is one of India's largest trading partners, with bilateral goods trade running at well over $100 billion annually.

For Indian exporters, the deal is expected to deliver substantial tariff reductions on key sectors including textiles, garments, leather goods, and pharmaceuticals, all of which currently face meaningful duties in European markets. European exporters, in turn, are seeking improved access for automobiles, wines, dairy and high-value manufactured goods — areas where India has historically maintained high protective tariffs.

Goyal's announcement comes at a moment when India is on a trade deal sprint, simultaneously pushing for closure on a separate interim agreement with the United States. The convergence of these two major negotiations underscores New Delhi's strategic pivot toward cementing its position in the global trade order amid shifting geopolitical alignments.