Investment worth $100 billion over 15 years will be tied with the trade agreement between India and the four-member European Free Trade Association (EFTA), to be signed on Sunday, according to people aware of the matter.
The investment will be linked to the creation of one million jobs in India.
“A mechanism and a road map will be developed to achieve that kind of investment,” one of the persons cited above told Business Standard.
The commitment is likely to be part of the investment chapter in the proposed trade agreement and not a separate investment pact.
A team of officials from the EFTA nations — Iceland, Switzerland, Norway, and Liechtenstein — is expected in New Delhi over the weekend for an official signing of the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA). This is the first trade deal India is set to sign with any European nation or bloc and the fourth trade agreement that will be signed over a decade.
A free-trade agreement with Mauritius was signed in February 2021, followed by those with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Australia a year later.
Under the TEPA, both countries are expected to give duty-free access to items across various sectors. For India, the biggest win will be a commitment for the $100 billion investment. This is because import duties in the EFTA nations aren’t steep. As a result, for India, market access gains could be limited.
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