THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

MUMBAI, SEPTEMBER 4, 2026

The India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will open up huge opportunities for farmers, fishermen, MSMEs, manufacturers, innovators, startups, women entrepreneurs and service providers across India and Europe, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.

Addressing the India-Belgium High-Level Dialogue on the India-EU FTA in Mumbai in the presence of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Goyal said the agreement had been deftly negotiated while protecting sensitive sectors on both sides.

The minister said the FTA, which had been in the making for 25 years before negotiations were concluded under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would bring together a market of USD 24 trillion, representing nearly two billion people, a quarter of global GDP and a third of world trade.

 “All 27 EU countries are on board, supportive and desirous of concluding the formalities and bringing the agreement into force at the earliest,” Goyal said, adding that such unanimous support was rare in the European context. He said every section in India had also supported the agreement wholeheartedly.

De Wever said the India-EU FTA would strengthen trade and open doors for companies, young talent and investment while making the two economies more resilient to disruptions.

Highlighting the Port of Antwerp-Bruges as a critical logistical link between India and Europe, he said the agreement would create opportunities in sectors including diamonds, food processing, pharmaceuticals, maritime services, green hydrogen and infrastructure.

Tariffs on more than 95 per cent of Indian and European goods exports would be scrapped or reduced, De Wever said.

Goyal said India and Belgium had significant scope to deepen economic cooperation, with their economies complementing each other across several major areas.

He said the two countries could explore co-creation and design in gems and jewellery, including lab-grown diamonds, and called for greater cooperation in technology and certification for mutual recognition, centred around the diamond hubs of Antwerp, Mumbai and Surat.

Belgium's world-class micro-electronics research could be combined with India's scale, skills and talent to create a design-to-fabrication ecosystem in semiconductors, Goyal said.

He also proposed deeper cooperation in green hydrogen, saying India's Green Hydrogen Mission could help power Europe through Antwerp-Bruges' bunkering and green shipping infrastructure.

Referring to the exchange of Memoranda of Understanding with John Cockerill, Goyal said there was significant potential for cooperation in defence and advanced manufacturing, including counter-drone systems, electronic warfare and precision munitions.

He also referred to the potential for Western export corridors for India-designed BrahMos and Pinaka missiles, saying industrial alignment between India and Belgium had never run deeper.

Given increased defence spending in Europe and India's own security environment, there was “tremendous potential” for the two countries to work together, he said.

Goyal also highlighted opportunities in agriculture and food processing, ranging from potato processing and cold chains to sustainable agri-value chains.

 “Technology and sustainable agri-value chains can serve the entire world through Belgium and India,” he said.

The minister described Belgium as the gateway to the opportunities created by the India-EU FTA, noting that the Port of Antwerp-Bruges is Europe's second-largest seaport.

He said the port could serve as the doorway through which the FTA's promise would physically arrive in Europe or be dispatched to India, with its combination of inland barge, rail and road networks, deepwater facilities, roll-on/roll-off capabilities and automotive strengths offering Indian exporters an important route into European industrial and consumer markets.

India's trade with the EU has already doubled over the last decade to nearly USD 140 billion, Goyal said, adding that India and Belgium faced a choice amid rising protectionism, disrupted supply chains, problems in food and fuel delivery, geopolitical conflicts and heightened volatility.

 “We choose to build, we choose to connect, we choose to work together,” Goyal said, quoting Belgian Nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine's idea of “order emerging out of chaos”.

He said India's economic and technological transformation had only just begun, noting that the country's economy was around USD 4 trillion on a purchasing power parity basis and that India was already the world's third-largest economy with a GDP of about USD 20 trillion on a PPP basis.

The collective goal of 1.4 billion Indians was to take the economy to USD 30 trillion by 2047, when India celebrates 100 years of independence, he said.

Goyal said the roadmap covered social upliftment, infrastructure creation, manufacturing at scale and creating a destination where global companies could design, co-design, co-create and co-manufacture.

 “India and its partners can collectively work not only for Europe and India, but for the world as our market,” he said.

Highlighting India's push to become a global semiconductor hub, Goyal said the first edition of Semicon India had been fully subscribed by investors from around the world, while Semicon India 2.0 had recently been launched with an outlay of USD 14 billion.

The combined programme, he said, could catalyse nearly USD 70 billion of investments in India's semiconductor sector.

Goyal said India's Artificial Intelligence Mission was already operational and supporting startups, while the country was also pursuing initiatives under its Critical Minerals Mission.

He said India's nuclear energy programme had been opened to the private sector after 60 years through the Shanti Act, with a plan to build 100 GW of nuclear power capacity over the next 20 years as baseload capacity to replace fossil fuels.

India's space technology sector, currently valued at about USD 8.5 billion, is expected to grow to USD 44 billion over the next eight years, driven largely by private initiatives, startups, innovators and designers, Goyal said.

He said India had become only the third country in the world where a private company had launched a rocket into space and the first country where a private initiative had succeeded on its first attempt.

Goyal also highlighted India's recently launched USD 12 billion research and development fund for innovation.

While the amount may appear modest from a European perspective, India's purchasing power parity advantage, combined with private-sector investment and academic capabilities, could deliver innovation equivalent to about USD 150 billion compared with what could be achieved in Europe, and at a fraction of the cost, he said.

The minister invited Belgium and the European Union to partner with India, saying Belgian technology, innovation and capital could find a “nest” in India, supported by the country's scale, talent, youthful energy, young population and decisive leadership.

He described Maharashtra as an inviting destination for business, calling it India's financial and commercial capital, industrial capital and fastest-growing economy.

Goyal invited De Wever and Belgian companies to engage with India with an open mind and open heart, backed by the facilities required by modern industry.

People would remain at the centre of the expanding partnership, he said, calling for stronger workforce mobility, mutual recognition of qualifications, joint skills development and dual-degree education programmes, particularly in sectors where Belgium faces shortages of talent and young workers.

Goyal said India and Belgium shared a warm and enduring relationship dating back to 1947, when India gained independence, and noted that Belgium was among the first European countries to establish diplomatic relations with independent India.

Thanking De Wever for his leadership and support in strengthening Belgium-India and EU-India relations, Goyal said the journey that had begun 25 years ago had now reached a significant milestone.

Recalling his recent visit to Belgium, Goyal said the real energy he experienced was among Belgian enterprises.

 “Belgium and India, together, can create an absolutely unbeatable competition” by combining Belgian technology, innovation and capital with India's scale, talent, youthful energy and decisive leadership, he said.

Drawing an analogy with the formation of a diamond, Goyal said diamonds were formed under tremendous pressure deep beneath the earth, while lab-grown diamonds emerged through relentless processes involving carbon deposits.

 “In a world under pressure and turmoil, India and Belgium can form something equally enduring, beautiful and precious as a diamond,” he said.

“Let India and Belgium form something just as enduring, just as beautiful and precious as a diamond. A diamond not only for Belgium and India, a diamond not only for Europe, a diamond for the world,” Goyal said.