NEW DELHI- India will lift most import tariffs on industrial products from four European countries in return for investment of $100 billion over 15 years, its trade minister said, after an economic pact signed on Sunday that concluded nearly 16 years of negotiations.
The deal follows trade pacts over the last two years with Australia and the United Arab Emirates, while officials say a another, with Britain, is in its final stages, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims for annual exports of $1 trillion by 2030.
It envisages that the European Free Trade Association, comprised of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, will invest $100 billion over 15 years in India’s fast-growing market of 1.4 billion people, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said.
In turn, India will lift, or partially remove, very high customs duties on 95.3 percent of industrial imports from Switzerland, excluding gold, either immediately or over time, the Swiss government said in a statement.
“Norwegian companies exporting to India today meet high import taxes of up to 40 percent on certain goods,” Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre said in a separate statement.
“With the new deal, we have secured nil import taxes on nearly every Norwegian good.”
The pact covers some new elements such as intellectual rights and gender equity, Goyal added, telling a press conference, “It is a modern trade agreement, fair, equitable and win-win for all five countries.”
The five signatories must ratify Sunday’s deal before it can take effect, with Switzerland planning to do so by 2025.
The news comes ahead of general elections due by May at which Modi will seek a record third term.
India has committed to cut its ‘bound tariff rate’ on gold to 39 percent from 40 percent , but does not anticipate much impact on imports of the metal from Switzerland, which were estimated at $16 billion last fiscal year, an Indian government official said.
The Indian market offers immense opportunities for trade and investment, said Swiss economic official Guy Parmelin, adding that the pact was the result of 21 rounds of talks. – Reuters
