Two days after India and the UK concluded the third round of talks for the proposed free trade agreement in New Delhi, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) President Lord Karan Bilimoria said a free trade agreement “is now within touching distance".
“..we have an opportunity to export UK’s expertise in clean tech. A deal has the potential to drastically lower tariffs on wind turbine parts that are currently as high as 15 per cent.
More broadly, 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 life sciences to tech and innovation," Bilimoria said according to a statement.
The UK’s world-leading renewable sector in particular could play an integral role in India’s transition to clean energy, CBI and CII said, adding that India has committed to getting 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. Reducing tariffs on green exports such as solar, onshore, and offshore wind, could open new opportunities for firms in India, the statement further said.
Meanwhile, CBI and lobby group Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said that they will set up UK-India Business Commission, to increase cross-industry collaboration in specific areas such as Advancing Technology and Digitalization, Climate Change & Sustainability, Multilateral collaboration, alignment on FTA and education.
“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," CII and CBI said in a joint statement.
