India-UK CETA momentum: Piyush Goyal urges firms to deepen business ties, launches four knowledge reports

London [UK], June 27 (ANI): Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday urged Indian companies to deepen engagement with their UK counterparts to convert the opportunities created by the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) into sustained business growth, while launching four knowledge reports aimed at helping businesses make the most of the trade pact.

Addressing the “India-UK: Partners in Progress Business Plenary” in London, Goyal said Indian businesses should strengthen partnerships with their British counterparts to translate “emerging opportunities under the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) into sustained business growth”, according to a Ministry of Commerce and Industry release.

The plenary brought together leading industry representatives from both countries, who described CETA as “a transformative framework for strengthening bilateral trade and investment”.

Discussions focused on the agreement’s potential to promote long-term investment, technology partnerships, innovation, resilient supply chains and deeper economic cooperation between India and the United Kingdom.

During the event, the minister launched four knowledge reports aimed at supporting businesses in leveraging opportunities under the landmark trade agreement. These include FICCI’s The Evolving India-UK Partnership*, CII’s Indian Roots, British Soil: Charting Indian Industry’s Footprints in the UK 2026; the UKIBC-HSBC UK-India CETA Utilisation Manual; and CareEdge’s Sovereign Ratings – A Fresh Perspective.

According to the ministry, the reports are intended to provide businesses with “insights and practical guidance for effectively leveraging opportunities under CETA”.

The deliberations also centred on the effective implementation of the agreement. Industry representatives stressed the need to create greater awareness of CETA, particularly among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), simplify regulatory procedures and certification requirements, strengthen industry-to-industry partnerships and facilitate greater talent mobility so that businesses can fully utilise the opportunities created by the pact.

Representatives from industry also presented recommendations emerging from sector-specific roundtable discussions covering healthcare, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, science and technology, services and consumer goods. The recommendations highlighted opportunities to expand bilateral collaboration through innovation, investment and stronger business partnerships.

Separately, Goyal said in a post on X that he held a “productive meeting” with Dr Vishwajeet Rana, Group CEO of GEDU Global Education. The minister said they discussed ways to further strengthen India-UK collaboration in higher education, skills and innovation and exchanged views on leveraging the India-UK CETA to foster stronger industry-academia partnerships and create new opportunities for shared growth between the two countries.

Following the plenary, Goyal concluded his two-day business engagements in the United Kingdom with an interactive debriefing session with the Indian business delegation. Members of the delegation shared key learnings from their meetings with prospective partners and discussed business opportunities identified across multiple sectors.

The ministry said the engagements “reaffirmed the strong momentum behind the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement” and reflected the shared commitment of both governments and industry to translate the agreement into tangible trade and investment outcomes. The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement is scheduled to come into force on July 15, 2026, paving the way for implementation of the trade pact and the tariff concessions agreed upon by both countries. (ANI)

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