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This exempt Indian professionals and companies from social security contributions in the UK for three years — a move described by the Indian government as a “huge win”.
The idea behind it is to stop employers and employees from the burden of contributing to social security in multiple countries.
The FTA is extremely detailed – comprising 26 chapters on goods, services, investment, and intellectual property rights.
The deal will likely come into effect within a year.
It is yet to be cleared by Britain’s Parliament.
India and the UK are negotiating a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) on a parallel track.
India has FTAs with Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Australia, UAE, Mauritius, the 10-nation bloc ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), and four European nations’ bloc EFTA (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland).
India is also currently negotiating FTAs with the US, Oman, the European Union (EU), Peru, and Israel.
How India benefits
The deal will allow 99 per cent of Indian exports to the UK to fall under zero-duty category.
This will boost labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, apparel and footwear, toys, marine product, gems and jewellery.
Many of these currently face tariffs ranging from 4 per cent to 16 per cent.
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