New Delhi: The negotiations between India and Chile for a free trade agreement (FTA) will be concluded soon, and the pact will provide greater access to critical minerals for domestic businesses, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday.
The South American nation has huge reserves of key critical minerals such as lithium, copper, Rhenium, Molybdenum, and cobalt. These are key inputs for electronics, auto, and solar sectors.
“We are engaged in active dialogue with many developed nations (for free trade agreements)...We will soon close the FTA with Chile. It will open up critical minerals for us,” Goyal said at an event of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in Greater Noida.
India and Chile implemented a preferential trade agreement (PTA) in 2006 and are now negotiating to widen its scope for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA).
CEPA aims to build upon the existing PTA between the two nations and seeks to encompass a broader range of sectors, including digital services, investment promotion and cooperation, MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises), and critical minerals.
The bilateral trade between India and Chile is modest. In 2024-25, India’s exports to Chile were down 2.46 per cent to just $1.15 billion. Imports, however, grew 72 per cent to $2.60 billion.
The minister also said that in the last four years, India has finalised trade pacts with eight developed nations and blocs, including Mauritius, Australia, the UAE, New Zealand, Oman, the EFTA bloc, the UK and the European Union (EU).
India, he said, has covered 32 major European countries through free trade agreements. EFTA (European Free Trade Association) has four members: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, while the EU have 27 and the UK.
These nations, he said, provide huge opportunities for talented Indian youth, and they are facing workforce shortages in sectors where “we are very competitive,” Goyal said.
He criticised the UPA-era FTAs, saying they have led to an increase in imports into India rather than exports.
There are major trade imbalances with those nations, he said, adding “they were not bold enough to offer opportunities to Indian businesses”.
Further, he said that global uncertainties are increasing and, in such a scenario, only bold countries will succeed in the future. “India stands as an oasis in a desert,” Goyal said.
Moreover, the country’s goods and services exports have registered positive growth so far this year, up to January 21, despite global economic uncertainties, he said. The minister, however, did not disclose the numbers.
“India’s goods and service exports continue to grow even in the current year, until January 21, and I am confident that given the hard work, perseverance, we will continue to beat our own records and grow relentlessly and soon become the world’s third largest economy,” he said here at the ICAI World Forum of Accountants event at Greater Noida.
The country’s merchandise exports grew 1.87 per cent to $38.5 billion in December last year.
Imports rose by 8.7 per cent to $63.55 billion during the month under review, according to government data released on Thursday.
During April-December this fiscal, the country’s merchandise exports rose 2.44 per cent to $330.29 billion.
The ministry is expecting that the goods and services exports may cross $850 billion in 2025-26 as against $825 billion in 2024-25.