Swiss chocolates and watches get cheaper as India-EFTA trade pact kicks in

The trade agreement between India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA came into force on Wednesday, under which the country has received an investment commitment of $100 billion over 15 years, while lowering or removing duties on products like Swiss watches and chocolates as India will phase out customs duties on these goods over 10 years.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said the pact will unlock new opportunities for trade, investment and job creation, benefiting people and businesses. “A lot of the agreement is centered around mutual trust and respect-respect for the sensitivities of each country amongst the five members” Goyal said at the Prosperity Summit here.

This is India’s first agreement having an investment commitment to balance and make the two sides equitable and bring fairness to the arrangement between the two set of partners.

“TEPA will further strengthen our exports across machinery, textiles, marine products, coffee, with wider access to the premium European markets,” Goyal posted on X.

India’s exports to the EFTA bloc were $1.97 billion in FY25 while imports were $22.44 billion.

At the event, he said there are areas in education, audiovisual services, culture and tourism which “we can capture together” and so are life sciences, clean energy, precision engineering, manufacturing and food processing.”Another area where we can work together is global capability centers, supporting your companies, bringing down their costs of operation,” he said.