Majority of India-U.K. FTA issues either closed or at advanced stage of talks: official
The Hindu
Majority of the issues in the proposed free trade agreement between India and the U.K. are either finalised or at an advanced stage of talks
Majority of the issues in the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the U.K. are either finalised or at an advanced stage of talks, a government official said on January 15.
Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce L. Satya Srinivas said that the 14th round of negotiations between the officials of the two countries is underway in New Delhi.
"The majority of the chapters are either closed or at an advanced stage of negotiation. Discussions are being held at the higher level as well as at the team level to iron out differences," he told reporters.
The talks for the pact began in January 2022. The current round of talks is expected to be the final one.
Talks are also progressing on the proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).
There are 26 chapters in the agreement, which include goods, services, investments and intellectual property rights.
Issues from both goods and services are pending for conclusion.
India’s manufacturing sector underperforms compared to China and South Korea, partly due to public sector wages that raise costs and reduce competitiveness.
Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, once prominent investors in the Indian equity market are seen shying away due to rupee depreciation and have moved to global funds, said a top financial services executive.
Mobile phones are increasingly migrating to smaller chips that are more energy efficient and powerful supported by specialised Neural Processing Units (NPUs) to accelerate AI workloads directly on devices, said Anku Jain, India Managing Director for MediaTek, a Taiwanese fabless semiconductor firm that claims a 47% market share India’s smartphone chipset market.
In one more instance of a wholly owned subsidiary of a Chinese multinational company in India getting ‘Indianised’, Bharti Enterprises, a diversified business conglomerate with interests in telecom, real estate, financial services and food processing among others, and the local arm of private equity major Warburg Pincus have announced to collectively own a 49% stake in Haier India, a subsidiary of the Haier Group which is headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong, China.
Indian stock markets closed lower amid volatility, with key firms lagging as global trends influenced trading activity.
Bharti and Warburg Pincus invest in Haier India, acquiring a 49% stake to enhance growth and innovation in consumer durables.
India's net FDI remains negative for October 2025, with outflows surpassing inflows amid trade deal uncertainties.
Bombay High Court halts fraud notices to Anil Ambani, questioning banks' compliance and the audit's validity.
Explore the key business events that defined India in 2025, from trade wars to regulatory reforms and corporate expansions.
The rarely-used eight-unit Fisk power plant owned by Houston-based NRG Energy was scheduled to retire next year. But then came from artificial intelligence.
The rupee gains 12 paise to 89.51 against the U.S. dollar, buoyed by RBI's liquidity support.
In a recent conversation with Dwarak Rajagopal, Head of AI Research at Snowflake, what stood out was not optimism or scepticism, but maturity.
Explore how India's export landscape is increasingly dominated by a few states, revealing regional disparities and structural challenges.