New Delhi: Indian garments and clothing will get zero-duty access to the European Union market as part of the import duty concessions granted by the 27-nation bloc under the free trade pact, providing textiles and apparel exporters much-needed level playing field against competitors like Bangladesh and Vietnam, industry bodies said Tuesday.
The European Union and India Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA) here.
Currently, the European Union is the second biggest market for India’s textile and apparel exports, after the United States.
The US, which has levied 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, is the single-largest market for India’s textile and apparel exports, accounting for almost 28 per cent of the country’s textile and apparel exporters’ total revenue.
Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel said the “zero-duty access of Indian garments and clothing to the EU market will decisively turn the tables in India’s favour enhancing our competitiveness in the European market”.
According to Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) Chairman Ashwin Chandran, once operational, the India-EU FTA will level the playing field for local textile and apparel exporters with their peers from Vietnam and Bangladesh, against whom they face a tariff disadvantage in the European Union.
“Coming at a time when India’s textile and apparel sector continues to be weighed down by the steep US tariff, the announcement on the FTA with the EU comes as a huge confidence boost since it creates possibilities for increased market access and more business to flow in for India’s textile and apparel exporters from the 27-nation bloc,” CITI Chairman Chandran stated.
Industry projections estimate that Indian apparel exports could grow by 20-25 per cent year-on-year after operationalisation of the FTA as against the current growth rate of 3.01 per cent in the EU market.
AEPC Chairman Sakthivel noted, “The FTA eliminates tariff on 100 per cent of apparel tariff lines, which will enhance market access to all member countries of the EU.”
EU is the world’s largest apparel importer with total apparel import worth USD 202.8 billion in FY 2024-25.
Some of the major garment importing countries of the EU like Germany, France, Spain and Italy source substantially from India and this deal will further boost our apparel exports to these economies, Sakthivel added.
India’s total textile and apparel exports stood close to USD 38 billion in FY25.
India’s bilateral trade in goods with the EU was USD 136.53 billion in 2024-25 (exports worth USD 75.85 billion and imports at USD 60.68 billion), making the EU India’s largest goods trading partner.
