India-EU trade pact to be signed by end of this year: Goyal

India and the European Union (EU) have agreed to sign a free trade agreement by the end of this year, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday. Addressing the India-Finland Business Round Table in Helsinki, Goyal said the pact will come into force in the first quarter of 2027. "In the course of my meetings in Brussels yesterday, we agreed to sign the final legal document before the end of calendar 2026 and bring it into effect in the first quarter of 2027, sometime in February or March," he said.

He added that the deal will open many opportunities for businesses on both sides. On January 27, India and the EU announced the conclusion of negotiations for the deal. Under the pact, 93% of Indian shipments will enjoy duty-free access to the 27-nation bloc, while the import of luxury cars and wines from the EU will become less expensive. The deal, concluded after negotiations spanning over two decades, will create a market of about 2 billion people across India, the world's fourth-largest economy, and the EU, the second-largest economic bloc. 

Taken together, India and the EU account for 25% of global GDP and one-third, or about $11 trillion, of international trade, which totals roughly $33 trillion.         

-PTI