India and the European Union are ironing out the details of their free trade agreement, aiming to conclude negotiations by January, as New Delhi strives to sign several new FTAs around the world.
Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has been busy with trade negotiations with several countries besides the EU. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi The country signs an FTA with Oman, but significant steps are also being taken towards FTA negotiations with Chile and New Zealand. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal believes that several of them will have positive results in 2026.
Negotiations with the EU are progressing steadily. Modi and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen discussed in February signing the trade deal by the end of 2025. Still, the trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič recently admitted that it wouldn’t happen this year. He told POLITICO that this would most likely happen in the first months of 2026. Šefčovič visited India last week and Goyal is expected to continue negotiations in January.
A controversial issue concerns the EU border carbon tax and steel guarantees that India would like to include in the negotiations. Despite this problem, optimism still prevails with “a common determination” to be ready to sign or end the negotiations before India’s Republic Day on January 26, 2026, where von der Leyen and the President of the European Council Antonio Costa will be present as guests of honor.
India is diversifying its trade strategy after being the target of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, and trying to overcome uncertainties related to opening new markets to trade. Negotiations over a trade deal with the United States have so far been complex. India benefited from an overall tariff hike of 50% from the United States.
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