Driving in the FTA Lane: India is in talks with 50 nations, but how many pacts will it sign in 2024?

India is actively engaged in ongoing FTA negotiations with multiple countries and blocs, including Oman, the UK, the EU, Canada, and various Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) partner countries. The negotiations focus on market access, compliance with environmental and labour standards, and the reduction of high import duties. India currently has 13 functional FTAs and aims […]

Former Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher in an interview with ET said FTA negotiations prioritize preferential agreements over multilateralism due to the lack of commonality in issues among countries and the evolving role of non-trade issues. Kher added that friendshoring has emerged as a response to supply chain uncertainties caused by geopolitical tensions.

“The recently announced India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is a strategic and economic game-changer for India and others,” FM Sitharaman said. The inclusion of this transformative project in the budget speech is a subtle message to the overseas audience that India is committed to its quest for deeper integration with global markets.

The Red Sea crisis, caused by Houthi militants targeting shipping vessels, will not have an inflationary impact or cause a drastic shortage of goods in India, according to the head of a US-India body. While the crisis has impacted global trade and increased voyage time, India can survive through it. However, India’s exports of rice […]

As a result of measures, the manufacturing ecosystem of the industry has witnessed “remarkable” growth, leading to a substantial decrease of 52 per cent in overall import of toys from USD 332.55 million in 2014-15 to USD 158.7 million in 2022-23, Parkash said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. The exports have increased […]

The government assures that the crisis in the Red Sea has not significantly impacted container availability in most ports. However, there has been a rise in freight costs and container sailings from India have been redirected via the Cape of Good Hope route. The Indian Navy has increased maritime surveillance efforts in the Arabian Sea […]

India’s food secretary has highlighted that the government has no intentions to revise rice export restrictions until prices fall, reported Reuters, on Friday.

Piyush Goyal discusses bilateral investment treaties and the importance of negotiating from a position of strength. He mentions concerns about the Red Sea situation and the potential impact on exports. Goyal believes that India will become the largest market for aircraft in the next 20-25 years, attracting manufacturers. The budget focuses on infrastructure investment to […]

India and Indonesia commemorated the 75th anniversary of their diplomatic relations with the mega India-Indonesia Business Forum, focusing on attractive sectors for collaborations such as pharma, consumer goods, transportation infrastructure, tourism, e-mobility, and FinTech. The event concluded with the unveiling of a logo symbolizing the strong cooperation between the two countries.

India is negotiating bilateral investment treaties with different countries with a view to promote foreign inflows, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday. She said that foreign direct investment (FDI) has doubled during 2014-23 to USD 596 billion compared to the inflow received during 2005-14.