India-Oman FTA on track for June 1 start even as deal with Chile hits hurdles, says Commerce Minister

The India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will “probably” be implemented on June 1, 2026, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday (May 12, 2026), following a meeting with the negotiating team from Oman. 

He added that the India-Chile Free Trade Agreement negotiations have hit some hurdles due to the difference in the sizes of the economies involved.

“I had a very good meeting with the Oman team today, and most probably the Oman FTA will come into effect from June 1, 2026,” Mr. Goyal told reporters on Tuesday (May 12, 2026) on the sidelines of the CII Annual Business Summit 2026.

Earlier in the day, he posted on social media that he had held a “productive” meeting with Pankaj Khimji, Adviser for Foreign Trade and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion in Oman.

“Discussions focused on strengthening India-Oman economic cooperation, enhancing connectivity & logistics linkages, facilitating trade flows, and exploring new avenues for bilateral partnership under the India-Oman CEPA framework,” Mr. Goyal had posted. 

The India-Oman CEPA was signed on December 18, 2025.

However, in contrast, the Commerce Minister indicated that talks with Chile were running into some trouble.

“With regard to Chile, I had a very good meeting with the foreign minister,” Mr. Goyal said. “There are some challenges, given the very different sizes of the economies and different scales of opportunities that both countries offer to each other.” 

While he said that the two sides were trying to bridge that gap through “innovative solutions”, he also did specify certain things that Chile could offer India to encourage it. 

“If we get a good deal on critical minerals and other important concessions, then maybe there is a very good possibility that we should be able to finalise an FTA with Chile too,” Mr. Goyal said.