Overview
- Negotiators have concluded 10 of 20 FTA chapters, with another four to five broadly decided in principle, according to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
- EU Director‑General for Trade Sabine Weyand will lead a technical delegation to New Delhi next week to pursue tariff‑level closure.
- Both sides reaffirmed their goal of finishing the pact by end‑2025, with EU Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič expected in India in late November or early December.
- Sensitive items still unresolved include steel, automobiles, the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism and other new EU regulations such as deforestation rules.
- Goyal and Šefčovič described substantial progress and a constructive atmosphere, as India pressed for relief for labour‑intensive sectors and raised concerns over non‑tariff measures.