India uk free trade agreement: India is estimated to lose customs revenue of Rs 4,060 crore in the first year of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Britain (FTA), as the fees on various goods have been reduced or abolished. The calculation of the Economic Research Institute ‘Global Trade Research Initiative’ (GTRI) on Monday is based on the current import data from Britain.
It said that as until the 10th year the eradication of fee will be widely implemented in a phased manner, the annual deficit is expected to increase to Rs 6,345 crore or about 57.4 million British pounds based on the amount of trade of FY 2024-25. The GTRI said that the Indo-Britain Free Trade Agreement signed on July 24 will reduce customs revenue of the two countries, as the fees on various goods have been reduced or abolished.Also Read: India, Britain signed the historic FTA, what PM Modi said?
Imported goods worth US $ 8.6 billion from Britain: India imported goods worth US $ 8.6 billion from Britain in 2024–25. These imports include a large part of industrial products and had a weighted average duty of 9.2 percent on them. Most agricultural products except whiskey and gin items, which levies an average fee of 64.3 percent, is excluded from the fee cut.Also Read: Trade agreement between India-Britain, what will be cheaper from dairy to rice
It states that India has committed to immediately abolish the fee at 64 percent of the value of goods imported from Britain. Overall, India will abolish the fee on 85 percent fee categories and will reduce the five percent fee on categories or product categories.
Estimated revenue loss Rs 4,060 crore: GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said that on the basis of these factors, India’s estimated revenue loss in the first year of the agreement is Rs 4,060 crore. He said that in the last financial year 2024-25, Britain imported goods worth US $ 14.5 billion from India on which the weighted average import duty was 3.3 percent. Under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), Britain has agreed to remove the fees on 99 percent of Indian products.ALSO READ: The main things of the India-Britain Trade Deal, know which area will get how much benefit
The report stated that this would lead to an estimated annual revenue loss of UK 37.5 million British pounds (or Rs 47.4 crore US $ 3,884 crore), based on trade data of FY 2024-25. As Indian exports to Britain increase, fiscal impact is expected to increase over time. This agreement may take about a year to implement as it will require approval from the UK Parliament. (Language)
Edited by: Ravindra Gupta
