India-Australia trade deal will benefit Indian exports significantly: FIEO

The India-Australia trade agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA) will benefit Indian exports from preferential duty market access in Australia and will benefit India's labour-intensive sectors such as gems and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, food and agricultural products, engineering products, medical devices, automobiles, and specified pharma products, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said in a statement on Thursday.
President of FIEO A Sakthivel thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal for cementing the trade agreement in a record time.

"The agreement, which the Australian Parliament ratified on November 15, 2022, is a milestone in India-Australia's relationship," said Sakthivel.


FIEO President said that it is remarkable that in a very short span of time India has carved out two important partnership agreements with UAE and Australia, which are complementary economies and important export markets.

He added that India's goods exports to Australia will reach USD 15 billion by 2025 from USD 6.9 billion in 2021 and services trade should move to USD 10 billion by 2025 from USD 3.9 billion.

The India-Australia Economic and Cooperation Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA) provides an institutional mechanism to encourage and improve trade between the two countries. It covers almost all the tariff lines dealt with by India and Australia.

India will benefit from preferential market access provided by Australia on 100 percent of its tariff lines, including all the labour-intensive sectors of export interest to India, such as Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, food, and agricultural products, engineering products, medical devices, and Automobiles.

On the other hand, India will be offering preferential access to Australia on over 70 percent of its tariff lines, including lines of export interest to Australia, which are primarily raw materials and intermediaries such as coal, mineral ores, and wines.

Further, India has offered market access to Australia in around 103 sub-sectors and Most Favoured Nation status in 31 sub-sectors from the 11 broad service sectors such as business services, communication services, construction, and related engineering services.

Also, both countries agreed to a separate Annex on Pharmaceutical products under this agreement, which will enable fast-track approval for patented, generic, and biosimilar medicines.

Through this trade agreement, it is estimated that an additional 10 lakh jobs would be created in India.