“The Commission will provide a critical forum for discussion to ensure an FTA works to the benefit of businesses in both countries,” CII said in a statement.
The group will provide continual oversight and meet ahead of key milestones to take views on trade-offs, breakdown barriers to market access and help feed in on-the-ground business intelligence at a ministerial level in India and UK, according to the statement.
With negotiations between India and the UK underway, a focus on reducing the barriers to trade, cutting tariffs, and supporting firms to export, will help consumers and businesses alike particularly in the face of cost-of-living crisis.
“This partnership is an opportunity to address shared concerns, identify common interests and foster greater understanding and to develop capacity to address the issues of economic and global concerns,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.
CII said the UK’s renewable sector could play an
role in India’s transition to clean energy, and reducing tariffs on green exports such as solar, onshore, and offshore wind could open new opportunities for firms in India.
“More broadly, securing this free trade agreement could almost double UK exports to India, boost Britain’s total trade by as much as £28 billion a year by 2035 and increase wages across the UK regions by £3 billion,” CII said.
“For example, on renewables, we have an opportunity to export UK’s expertise in cleantech. A deal has the potential to drastically lower tariffs on wind turbines parts that are currently as high as 15%,”said CBI President Lord Karan Bilimoria, adding that a deal anchored in slashing tariffs, improving the ability to move talent across borders as well as data, will unlock plenty of prizes across a host of sectors from services and
to tech and innovation.
