Auto to textiles, India Inc. hopes to reap benefits

Bilateral trade between India and the United Kingdom (UK) will increase by 25.5 billion pounds with the sealing of their free-trade agreement (FTA), and it is expected to benefit sectors such as textiles, marine products, leather, gems and jewellery, footwear, and engineering goods, said companies and industry experts. It may also give an impetus to trade in services: Information technology, finance, and education. Trade between the two nations in 2024 stood at 42.6 billion pounds. However, some segments like medical devices raised concern over the possibility of the UK becoming a trans-shipment hub for Chinese products. Analysts say in the textiles sector alone, India’s export could double from $1.4 billion now. Tariffs on whisky and gin will be halved from 150 per cent to 75 per cent before reducing to 40 per cent by the 10th year of the deal. The defence industry will get a huge opportunity to supply to the UK and Europe and also take advantage of capabilities in the UK to partner with more UK companies,” Amit Kalyani, joint managing director, Bharat Forge, told the media. Exports from India to the UK in 2024-25 were $14.55 billion, up 12 per cent from $12.98 billion in 2023- 24. Of this, engineering goods accounted for $4 billion, followed by electronics ($1.85 billion), and textiles ($1.43 billion). “China’s share in the UK textile market is 21 per cent, followed by Bangladesh at 18 per cent and India at 5 per cent. Even if India doubles its market share to 10 per cent, it would add an additional $1 billion in export volume,” said Prabhu Dhamodharan, convenor, Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF). Tiruppur Exporters’ Association President K M Subramanian indicated the share of UK exports from the textile hub was expected to more than double from 9 per cent of its revenue to around 20 per cent.