Overview

• A launch event at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi will mark the start, with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and ministers from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland expected to attend.
• India will scrap duties on roughly 80–85% of EFTA imports as EFTA opens about 99% of its tariff lines to Indian goods, with agriculture and dairy kept out.
• EFTA countries have committed $50 billion in the first 10 years and another $50 billion in the following five years, which the government projects could generate about one million direct jobs.
• Trade with the bloc is dominated by Switzerland, with FY25 exports to EFTA near $1.97 billion and imports at about $22.44 billion, including $21.8 billion from Switzerland.
• Goyal said India is advancing FTAs with the US, EU, New Zealand, Oman, Peru and Chile, with Qatar and Bahrain expressing interest and a Terms of Reference signed to launch talks with the Eurasian Economic Union.