Ahead of the Union Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi positioned the India–EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as a transformative milestone for the country, describing it as the “mother of all deals” that reflects a confident and self-reliant Bharat.
Addressing the Parliament, he said the pact offers a major opportunity for Indian exporters and urged domestic traders to ensure world‑class quality standards to fully leverage access to one of the globe’s largest markets.
Speaking to reporters at the Parliament House complex ahead of the Budget session, Modi said the country is emerging from long-pending challenges and is now focused on long-term solutions. He stressed that the time has come to “find solutions and not create hurdles,” adding that his government is committed to ensuring last‑mile delivery of welfare schemes rather than remaining “confined to files.”
On manufacturing and exports, Modi said the agreement opens up a huge market for Indian manufacturers and emphasised the need to focus on quality. “We must ensure the best quality of products go to the EU. Excellent quality goods will have a lasting impact and also establish India as a formidable brand in the Europe.”
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This comes at a backdrop of the India and the EU landmark free trade agreement on Tuesday. Coined as ‘Mother of All Trade Deals’, this deal aims to create a market of two billion people with PM Modi and the top EU leadership unveiling a transformative five-year agenda to largely leverage trade and defence in protecting the rules-based world order. The India-EU FTA will represent one-fourth of the world’s GDP and one-third of global trade.
Modi said under this agreement, tariffs on more than 99% of India’s exports will either be zero or very low, benefiting industries such as textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, footwear, engineering goods and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and weavers, artisans and small entrepreneurs will gain “direct access” to the vast markets of 27 countries which form the EU bloc.
The deal will also bring more investment into India, leading to new engineering, electronics, chemical, pharma and other manufacturing plants, while creating assured markets for agriculture, food processing and fisheries which will be a major opportunity for farmers, fishermen and rural youth.
Modi underlined that this FTA directly connects India’s youth to Europe’s job market, creating opportunities especially in engineering, green technology, design, logistics and advanced manufacturing, meaning new avenues are opening for Indian youth across these 27 countries.
The EU members include France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, among other countries.
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