6 days ago
India-UK free trade deal: Who gains what?
NEW DELHI/LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - Britain and India are set to formally sign a free trade agreement on Thursday during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's UK visit, following three years of negotiations. The deal then needs approvals from the British parliament and India's federal cabinet, likely within a year.
Here are the key points of the agreement:
India to reduce tariffs on nearly 90% of UK goods
Whisky and gin levy to fall from 150% to 75%, then to 40% in a decade
Automobile tariff to fall from 100%-plus to 10% under quota
Tariffs to be cut on other goods including cosmetics, medical devices, salmon, chocolates, biscuits
UK to offer duty-free access to 99% of Indian items, according to Indian commerce ministry, covering nearly 100% of trade value
BENEFITS FOR INDIAN SECTORS
Indian exports such as textiles, footwear, gems & jewellery, furniture, auto components, chemicals, machinery, sports goods and other items likely to have zero duties, down from current levels of 4%-16% in the UK.
According to Indian commerce ministry, the UK will provide assured access for temporary stay to business visitors and contractual service providers as well as to yoga instructors, chefs and musicians.
Indian workers working temporarily in the UK and their employers will be exempted from paying social security contributions in the UK for three years, with savings estimated at about 40 billion rupees ($463 million) annually.
India will provide access to British suppliers for non-sensitive government procurement tenders in the federal government, with a threshold of 2 billion rupees.
The deal will give UK businesses access to India's public procurement market, comprising about 40,000 tenders with a value of about 38 billion pounds a year, according to UK government estimates.
The trade pact is expected to increase UK GDP by 4.8 billion pounds ($6.5 billion) annually in the long term, according to British government estimates, with consumers getting access to cheaper garments, footwear and food items from India.
Indian textile and apparel manufacturers such as Welspun India, Arvind Ltd ( opens new tab, Raymond, Vardhman ( opens new tab likely to benefit from duty-free access for exports to the UK.
Footwear manufacturers such as Bata India ( opens new tab, Relaxo ( opens new tab, auto manufacturers like Tata Motors ( opens new tab, Mahindra Electric and also Bharat Forge ( opens new tab could benefit, according to industry analysts.
UK firms including whisky distiller Diageo (DGE.L), opens new tab, auto manufacturer Aston Martin and Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover could benefit from access to fast-growing Indian market.
($1 = 86.3790 Indian rupees)
($1 = 0.7418 pounds)
