India's Evolving FTA Architecture
FTA vs CEPA vs CETA
India's trade agreements have progressively widened in scope, reflected in their naming. A basic Free Trade Agreement (FTA) mainly covers tariff elimination on goods. A Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) or Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) adds services, investment, and regulatory cooperation. A Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) — the term used for both the India-UK and earlier India-EFTA-adjacent style deals — signals an even broader "next-generation" agreement including chapters like digital trade, telecommunications, financial services, IP, and government procurement.
- India-Mauritius CECPA: signed February 22, 2021; entered into force April 1, 2021 — India's first trade pact with an African nation in decades.
- India-UAE CEPA: signed February 18, 2022; entered into force May 1, 2022 — negotiated and implemented within about 88 days, among the fastest FTAs in India's history.
- India-Australia ECTA (Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement): signed April 2, 2022; entered into force December 29, 2022.
- India-EFTA TEPA (Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement, with Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein): signed March 10, 2024 after 16 years of intermittent talks; entered into force October 1, 2025, with EFTA states committing to $100 billion in investment into India over 15 years.
- India-Oman CEPA: signed December 18, 2025; entered into force June 1, 2026.
● Tracked since July 14, 2026 · last seen September 11, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes