India-EU FTA Binds a Market of 2 Billion People: Piyush Goyal

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal addressed the India-Belgium High-Level Dialogue on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement in Mumbai on 4 September 2026. Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever was present. So was Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The scale of the agreement

Shri Goyal said the agreement had been in the making for twenty-five years before negotiations were concluded. He described its scale in four numbers that an examiner can use directly.

He said such unanimous support was rare in the European context. Every section in India had also supported the agreement.

What the Belgian Prime Minister said

Mr De Wever said the agreement would strengthen trade and open doors for companies, young talent and investment. He said tariffs on more than 95 per cent of Indian and European goods exports would be scrapped or reduced. He described the Port of Antwerp-Bruges as an important logistical link between India and Europe. Shri Goyal noted that this port is Europe's second-largest seaport.

Five areas where the two economies fit

• Gems and jewellery, including lab-grown diamonds, anchored around Antwerp, Mumbai and Surat.
• Semiconductors, pairing Belgian micro-electronics research with Indian scale and skills.
• Green hydrogen, through the bunkering and green shipping infrastructure at Antwerp-Bruges.
• Defence and advanced manufacturing, including counter-drone systems, electronic warfare and precision munitions, with MoUs exchanged with John Cockerill.
• Agriculture and food processing, from potato processing to cold chains.

The economy figures Shri Goyal quoted

He said India's trade with the European Union has doubled over the last decade to nearly USD 140 billion. He said India is a USD 4 trillion economy on a purchasing power parity basis and already the world's third-largest economy with a USD 20 trillion GDP on that basis. The stated goal is to take it to USD 30 trillion by 2047, when India completes 100 years of independence. He said Semicon India 2.0 has been launched with an outlay of USD 14 billion, and that the mission would catalyse nearly USD 70 billion of investment. He said the nuclear energy programme, through the Shanti Act, is open to the private sector after sixty years, with a plan to build 100 gigawatts of nuclear capacity over the next twenty years. India's space technology sector, at USD 8.5 billion today, is expected to reach USD 44 billion in eight years.