Mainstream WeeklyIndia has signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU). The agreement concluded after prolonged negotiations spread over almost two decades has been described as a mother of all deals. The EU and India together account for 2 billion population, a market worth $3 trillion, 25 percent of gross global GDP and one-third of global trade. The deal gives preferential access and zero or reduced tariff benefits for both sides.
The FTA is expected to benefit many sectors of the Indian economy such as textiles, gems and jewellery, footwear, marine and plantation industry by expanding their market and generating employment opportunities.
While India has largely protected its agricultural sector by keeping dairy products, cereals, beef and poultry from outside the purview of the FTA, it has relented and allowed imports of wine from the EU costing above a minimum import price of