India's commerce minister recently called for a nationwide effort to maximise Free Trade Agreement (FTA) utilisation, highlighting the government's continued focus on awareness as a means of improving FTA benefits for businesses. According to reports from Business Standard, this initiative reflects the government's longstanding policy emphasis on awareness as a solution to low FTA utilisation rates. The Foreign Trade Policy Statement released on April 1, 2015, had aimed to raise India's merchandise and services exports from ₹3,79,000 crore in 2013-14 to ₹1,80,000 crore by 2019-20, with analysis revealing a lack of awareness among industry about FTA benefits.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal announced that India has secured better FTA rates than competing countries in almost all developed markets, marking a significant shift from previous disadvantages. As reported by Business Standard, Goyal explained that India had struggled for years to compete with Bangladesh and Vietnam in developed markets, as Bangladesh benefited from its least developed country (LDC) status while Vietnam gained preferential access through FTAs. These advantages allowed the two countries to access developed markets at zero or lower tariffs, while Indian exporters often faced higher duties. "That situation has now changed," Goyal said, adding that Indian exporters now have to focus on scale, quality, diligence, customer trust and timely delivery, leaving "no excuse except performance".
India currently has nine FTAs covering economies representing around $60 trillion in GDP, providing preferential access to nearly two-thirds of global trade. According to Goyal's latest statements, India expects to conclude additional trade agreements over the next few months and years with Canada, Mexico, Chile, Mercosur, the Southern African Customs Union, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Israel. India is also working to review its trade arrangements with ASEAN, South Korea and Japan. Together, these agreements and reviews could give India preferential access to around 75% of global trade at rates lower than those faced by its competitors. The minister said India appeared to be on course to achieve its $1 trillion export target for the current year, which would represent around 16% growth.
Despite the awareness initiatives, India continues to face significant data collection challenges for FTA utilisation. As reported by Business Standard, the government had instituted an outreach programme covering tier-I and tier-II cities, with many seminars following, but agreement-wise and product-wise FTA utilisation data for exports is still not available in the public domain. The Trade Connect portal does not disclose the number or value of preferential agreement-wise origin certificates, and it does not cover origin statements made under self-certification mechanisms. The government had promised a system to capture export data under FTAs at the earliest, but this remains incomplete.
On the import side, evidence suggests that deficient awareness is not the primary issue. According to Business Standard reports, Indian Customs data shows that concessional rates under FTAs and other preferential arrangements had a revenue impact of ₹98,569 crore in 2024-25. Foreign suppliers typically advertise these concessions to Indian customers, while importers and customs brokers examine them to reduce landed costs. Foreign buyers frequently ask Indian exporters for preferential origin documents because duty affects purchasing decisions, indicating that businesses are alert to benefits that influence prices and margins.
