India-UK FTA: Win-win for both; biggest beneficiary will be our services sector, says Piyush Goyal

Delhi: On the India-UK FTA, Union Minister Piyush Goyal says, "...The biggest benefit that this FTA provides is to the services sector. They were sending their employees to serve in the UK for 2-3 years, and during that period, nearly 25% of the employees' income was being paid into the National Security Program, their pension program. But because these people did not stay there for 10 years, which was the minimum required to get the benefits of the pension, the money they were paying was lost... So even at a low 60,000-pound earning, they were losing 15,000 pounds, which is about Rs 18 lakhs per year... Now they can pay that same amount into the Provident fund account in India. So it becomes their saving, it is not money lost, and that will become their pension or their security for the future. It will also earn them over 8% tax-free interest in their Provident fund account. So they don't have to pay anything extra, the savings that will happen because of the double contribution convention agreement... It's a level playing field now, just like the UK employees can get a pension, our people will pay in India and get a pension or security in India. So it's a level playing field even for the UK. It's fair that the money should not be lost for people who are serving to help the UK economy. It's a win-win for both, and I've always said an agreement can only work when it's a win-win for both countries..."