India expects $100bn investment in 15 years
The India-European Free Trade Association (EFTA)-Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), which came into effect on 1 Oct 2025, covers 100% of non-agri products and tariff concession on Processed Agricultural Products (PAP) as well as sensitivity related to Production Linked Incentive (PLI) in sectors such as pharma, medical devices & processed food etc https://www.commerce.gov.in/.
The most important regional trade pact with India also aims to increase the stock of foreign direct investments by US$100 billion in India in the next 15 years.
Key features of the 14-chapter agreement
FTA is an important regional group, with several growing opportunities for enhancing international trade in goods and services. EFTA is one important economic block out of the three (other two – EU & UK) in Europe. Among EFTA countries, Switzerland is the largest trading partner of India followed by Norway https://www.bseindia.com/.
The TEPA will empower India’s exporters by providing access to specialized inputs and create conducive trade and investment environment. This would boost exports of Indian made goods as well as provide opportunities for services sector to access more markets https://www.nseindia.com/.
Investment and Employment Commitments
As per Article 7.1 of TEPA, the EFTA States shall aim to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) from their investors into India by US$50 billion within 10 years from the entry into force of the Agreement, and an additional US$50 billion in the succeeding 5 years, amounting to a total of US$100 billion over 15 years. Concurrently, the EFTA States shall aim to facilitate the generation of 1 million direct jobs in India resulting from these investment inflows https://fieo.org/.
This investment commitment explicitly excludes foreign portfolio investment (FPI), focusing on long-term capital for productive capacity building.
Market Access for Goods
Under TEPA, EFTA has offered 92.2% of tariff lines encompassing 99.6% of India’s exports. Includes 100% of non-agricultural products and tariff concessions on Processed Agricultural Products (PAP).
India’s offer to EFTA covers 82.7% of tariff lines, accounting for 95.3% of EFTA exports. Over 80% of these imports are Gold, with no change in effective duty on Gold. Sensitive sectors protected, including pharma, medical devices, processed food, dairy, soya, coal, and sensitive agricultural products http://ukibc.com.
Boost for Services and Mobility
India has offered commitments in 105 sub-sectors. EFTA commitments: 128 (Switzerland), 114 (Norway), 107 (Liechtenstein), 110 (Iceland). TEPA enables Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) in professional services such as nursing, chartered accountancy, and architecture.
TEPA presents stronger opportunities in IT, business services, cultural and recreational services, education, and audio-visual services.
Intellectual Property Rights: TEPA ensures IPR commitments at TRIPS level. The IPR chapter with Switzerland has high standard for IPR, shows the robust IPR regime. India’s interests in generic medicines and concerns related to evergreening of patents have been fully addressed. Fiinews.com
